Alice's Trip There and Back
by Foresaken-Shadow
Summary: Wonderland has been saved, but not all is as it appears. What would become of that world if she lost herself? Set after Burton's story with themes from American McGee's Alice. Playing with Alice x Hatter..but then there's that annoying Knave.
1. Chapter 1

Hello again, here is my second attempt at an _Alice_ fic. Once again, I am very excited for Tim Burton's adaptation (especially so since Johnny Depp will be in it), and my excitement has been slowly channeling itself into a series of experiments regarding Alice x Hatter concepts.

I have also been replaying American McGee's Alice game (very good, highly recommend it, it still scares me even though I'm an adult now) and it's been throwing me more inspiration than I know what to do with.

The ultimate result is this bit of fan fiction, which will hopefully extend for a dozen chapters if my schoolwork doesn't kill me before then. And of course please grant me some leeway with it, I've not seen the film, I don't know the particular details of the plot or of the characters themselves. I've read that the Hatter's attire is supposed to reflect his mood so I've made his suit magical—it has the ability to change colors. The Cheshire Cat is a mix of the Burton and McGee Cat—clever and a bit cynical.

And so begins my attempt at an Alice fic, starting at what I presume to be the end of the 2010 film. Enjoy, and reviews are most certainly welcome!

* * *

I didn't particularly like the way he looked at me. Wide green eyes sunken in a white face and lips quivering as if he was swallowing every few moments. Perhaps a side effect of the "mad" title? Or maybe he had picked up the habit from drinking too much tea. I couldn't find the words to ask, nor did I find it particularly proper to.

But really, it wasn't the fact his face was as white as a sheet and his eyes were following mine, it was the fact that he seemed so…stricken. Anxiety wasn't the right word as the wide eyes always gave that effect, nor was remorse quite right. Deep down I would have guessed he was terrified about something.

But he was looking at me.

I didn't want to know why he looked so fearful. It was breaking my heart that he looked on the verge of tears. It was then I heard a choke and a sob. It took another moment and two silent tears sliding down his face for me to realize those were my desperate cries and not his.

The scream shocked me to life. Suddenly everything was clear as day and I was sobbing, "Hatter….Hatter please…"

Lips once pressed to a thin line quivered. "Alice?" he asked in a timid voice. My crying drowned him out. I turned away, shutting my eyes and hiding from the white room the Hatter and I sat in.

"Alice, please," he prodded lightly.

I couldn't face him, just as I presumed it took every ounce of courage in him to stay beside me. For though I could not feel it, I suspected there was something horribly wrong with me by the way his eyes had followed me so. I couldn't face that face while I remembered how he had been so willing and ready to fight for my mortality and I had stood aside like a pathetic damsel.

_The Hatter wielded a regal sword, a grimace painted to his usually lively face. He had pushed past me briskly as the Knave stepped forward, standing far taller and his sword leagues more menacing (probably because he knew just how to wield it, while I feared any blade in the Hatter's hand). I had fallen to the way side, my knees buckling beneath my dress as I stumbled to the ground. The Cat appeared not long after the Hatter and the Knave began to duel. He'd whispered something to me that I soon forgot and then I found myself shaking with the most tremendous fright. The Hatter's blade had been flung out of his hand and he too had staggered backwards, sitting helplessly before the Knave with a sword tip pressed to his throat. _

"_No!"_

"_Dear girl this is not a wise idea—" said the Cat._

"_Please, sir Knave. Please--!" The sword jerked forward and I saw the Hatter gasp. "I would think you of all people should understand—" I was babbling._

_His dark eye cut across the field to me. I felt that if it were any other circumstance that I would have froze under his cold gaze. _

"_I love him," I spoke defiantly._

_The Knave's hand shook. My words had hexed him. The Hatter was motionless before him, but his eyes were on me and I wouldn't meet them._

"_Sir Knave of Hearts, you cannot destroy love, can you?" I was coming to my feet once again._

"_Alice!" the Cat hissed._

_From the corner of my eye I could see the Hatter's shabby clothes dying themselves a deep red. With the Knave's eye on me, he hadn't seen his opponent reaching for his sword. He barked in fury when the blade pierced his side. Inside, I smiled at the Hatter's cunning wit. Externally, however, a look of deep disapproval had painted my face as I crossed my arms._

"_How dare you?" I called._

"_Girl, your day will come," he snarled. The anger those black eyes seeped shook me to the core. I couldn't help a shriek when the Knave turned and lunged at the Hatter again—this time grabbing him around the throat and giving him quite a shake before shoving him aside. _

_Some time passed in which my head swam and I couldn't remember much of anything, no conversation nor the feeling of my scraped knees. The Cat chattered darkly behind the two of us as the Hatter led the way back into the grove, back into the twisted forest that would eventually lead us to the Queen's abode. At some point my senses returned, as I remember our conversation very profoundly._

"_Alice."_

_I made a small sound of acknowledgement and turned my eye to the Hatter._

"_You saved me," he murmured. He did not face me as we climbed over broken branches and brambles, although he offered a hand over a particularly large fallen tree. "You shan't do that any more," he continued lowly._

"_But Hatter—that Knave was going to kill you and I couldn't let it happen!"_

"_I appreciate your bravery, Alice, but you mustn't put your neck out like that anymore. Your life is far more valuable than mine."_

_Initially I was shocked at his lucidness. But that thought quickly passed as I protested, "It most certainly is not. You are a dear friend and that's what friends do for one and other."_

_He suddenly stopped and swiveled to face me. I nearly ran into him, I had been following so closely. "No, Alice."_

_I began shouting. "Then why? Why am I so important? Why is it that everyone treats me like a flower or something to be broken?" I took a breath. "Why were you so anxious to meet me?"_

_He glanced aside a moment and then replied, "The Queen."_

"_What?" I spat._

"_You must defeat the Queen. You are the only one who can."_

_I took a step back and blinked furiously._

"_We cannot save this place on our own. It is linked to you and therefore you are the only one who can drive the irreversible stake into the Queen's heart."_

"_We have tried," the Cat was suddenly speaking again. "The mark of our last attempt is on his face and in his eyes. On the Hare as well."_

_I looked between the two and felt an immense sinking feeling with the disappearance of the Cat's grin and the total lack of emotion from the Hatter. I glanced his face again—seeing the brilliant green of his eyes that were now a bit darker, the orange hair that stood out in stark contrast and the unnatural white complexion. Suddenly my mouth dropped open. I shook my head and looked to the Cat again._

"_But I… He's a hatter…"_

"_Your suspicions spell the truth, girl."_

_I looked to my feet, unable to say so._

"_We were so close. But everything went to the dogs when the Red Queen poisoned him," the Cat sighed._

_Only a second of silence resonated before the Hatter chimed, "Come along now, dear, we mustn't be late." Suddenly the man was gone. It was the Hatter speaking now._

The visions faded away as blackness overtook my eyes. I squeezed them tight as a silky voice purred right beside my ear, "He was willing to die for you, as it would give meaning to his efforts."


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter's a bit heavy on dialogue, but look--a new POV…ooooh. Exciting. Also: I know next to nothing about the White Queen. I hope I portray her in an okay manner.

Do review and let me know what you think. They tend to make me smile :)

Yay for the midnight movie tomorrow! And my on birthday!

* * *

The shrieks went on for a while. I cringed at them. It hurt my ears. Like she hurt. She who lie on the bed looking terribly small and trapped with white bandages lining her side.

White like the walls. Four walls illuminated by a windowless light from above. They resembled a prison cell. What doctors kept their patients in cells?

I was suddenly pressed against the wall when she erupted in sobs. Fear left my eyes wide open.

"Alice," I tried again. She would not hear me.

Alice. It was a pretty name for a pretty girl. A pretty girl.

She had said she loved me. I don't know how to feel about that.

Her face turned back to me, eyes still shut and tears slipping through the lids. She looked as though she may be sleeping. I knew she wasn't. Then, as she opened her eyes, I was suddenly stunned. What was that look on her face? I could see my jacket shuffling through the rounds—green, red, blue—until it settled on a murky shade of violet. She was blinking furiously from the bed, the sheets twisting in her hands as she looked to me.

"Alice…I…I don't know how to say this easily…" Words were tumbling from my lips before I realized they were being uttered.

She looked positively ill. I shrank away from her and flushed. It seemed the longer she looked in my direction the worse she appeared.

"Alice, please," I choked. Finally she looked away.

I swallowed dryly and wished for some tea.

The damn Cheshire appeared instead. He was bony and frail, simply skin and bones now. Looking at him made me even more parched.

"Have you not the courage to tell her?" the Cat snarled. He'd gotten mean since the battle. Just as he'd gotten thin and bony.

"I don't know," I mumbled. I did not know why Alice cried. She had bandages and that was all. I did not know why she would cry at bandages.

The Cat stared me in the eye. His gaze had waned from a bright green to a dim yellow and he seemed to grow thinner by the minute. His face was inquisitive. Judging. As if he was reading a long text with curious interest.

"The Queen struck her with a poison blade, Hatter. She is crying because she is dying."

Alice screamed and the sound turned into more sobs.

"But I—"

"Your help arrived much more quickly," the Cat barked. Ironic, given he is a feline.

"The Queen says it will take more than a wish to make her better."

"The Queen! The White Queen could help her," I chimed.

The Cat sighed. "The Queen has already seen to her."

"Oh."

The Cat glanced over his shoulder to watch my suit dye a deep blue. His tail flicked aside as if to compare his paling fur to it. Once upon a time, he would have matched the cloth.

"And I apologize," he grumbled, twisting his head this way and that, "For a coward, you are quite brave."

Bravery seemed perfectly inadequate for the situation at hand. If a girl's cries could destroy every shred of thought in my mind, what purpose did supposed bravery serve? I felt entirely helpless. I felt a fool. A coward. At least the cat was capable of putting on a stony face. My lips quivered in an attempt to not utter sounds of pity.

"What will become of her, then?" I inquired out of mere curiosity.

The Cheshire twitched slightly. Perhaps he had been poisoned too?

"Well," he sighed softly. He lifted a paw sympathetically and mumbled, "She can't stay here."

I felt suddenly strangled. As if someone was squeezing the life from me, and yet, taking a quick look around, there was no one there save for the Cat and little teary Alice. "Why, Cat? Wonderland is safer with her here. She ought to be Queen. Everyone in the land was so anxious to see her return and now here she is—"

"Hatter," the Cat said, "she will not recover if she is left here."

"Why that's absurd. She's under watchful care….her friends are close…"

"This world may be hers, but she does not belong." The Cat padded off the seat and slinked about the bed. For an instant it looked as if he was going to disappear, as thin as he was, when he turned his fur glimmered and made him invisible. I blinked several times to find him still there, grimacing. "She is from a different place, a different world entirely. Where cats do not speak and only the sick are mad."

If this were true, then why would she come here? Why would she continue to live there? And why on earth would she confide in a Mad Hatter…

Her ginger moan caught both of our attentions. The Cat was balancing on the footboard as if he was lighter than air, his neck craned over the girl.

"Alice, you must wake up," he muttered.

But when her eyes opened once more, she looked to me as if it was I who spoke. "The Cat," I stuttered. She nodded into her pillow and began to fade away again. I sprang from the seat and crouched at her side so quickly my hat nearly toppled over, but when I reached her she was holding her hand out for mine. I placed it so, feeling my brow furrow at the sight of reddened fingertips against her flesh. The Cat was right. This girl, so innocent and so…_normal_ did not belong here.

No. She had come to save us. Certainly she belonged.

"Alice," the Cat continued condescendingly.

"Please, Alice," I joined.

But the girl merely sighed. Suddenly the white walls were closing in and the Cat had vanished. Alice looked tremendously small, and suddenly she was no longer the queen I had made her up to be.

"This is serious, Hatter," the Cat hissed from my shoulder.

My stomach dropped. The lights seemed to go out, and yet the room was still such a pristine white. "Alice, please wake up." I added sheepishly, "Don't want to be late for tea, now, not again."

The Cat fell from his perch on my hunched shoulders and struggled to retain his balance. My knees slipped underneath me, and a great roar rumbled outside.

"Hatter, wake her, now!" the Cat snapped. He was busy backing himself into a corner, ears flattened against his head.

I jerked her arm and sat her upright and pleaded once more.

The commotion fell silent as soon as her eyes flashed open. She was back. Tears still fell, however, when she threw her arms around my neck.

"Alice—" My eyes clouded. "Alice please," I huffed.

She suddenly drew back, her eyes red as tulips. "Hatter," Alice mumbled, "I…I don't want to leave…" She was back to crying as her hands slipped off my shoulders.

"But you weep because you cannot stay," the Cat concluded.

"This world is safe—" she interjected.

"Safe?" the Cat sputtered. "You ought to be dead!"

"It is filled with friends whom I care for."

I backed away.

"This place was filled with such misery…as my life was before I fell through the rabbit hole…"

The Cat tread near my ankles. "This place will not heal unless you do, Alice."

"But I am!" she contested, "I am, I am sitting up right, aren't I? And I'm sure I could stand if I tried—"

"You are wounded, girl, you need rest. You need a home which you can be nursed to life in."

But she was already climbing over the edge of the bed, trembling feet pressing themselves to the floor as she struggled to pull herself up. She all but collapsed until I reached for her.

"Why can't you take care of me?" she murmured. "The Hatter, the Hare, and you dear Cheshire…." Her voice tumbled off as she really got a look at him, his sunken skin and scowling face.

"You want a house of mad men caring for you?"

"I trust them, Cat!"

"That man beside you is a glorified child," the Cat hissed.

My jaws snapped shut. My suit spelled it out in red.

"What is wrong with you, Cat?" Alice shouted. Her hands clasped my arm tightly. Suddenly I feared falling over. "You claimed the Hatter a brave soldier once upon a time!"

"And now I see the truth of it," he replied lowly, "the bravest among a bunch of cowards is all he is."

"Cat, please, I don't want you to fight—"

"Alice!" he shouted, his hair standing on end. "I haven't a choice anymore. I know what's going on here, dear girl. Your mind is slowly escaping you, and because of that Wonderland is too. A mere battle didn't reduce me to skin and bones. It was you. And soon enough, Wonderland will fall into darkness once again. I would not be surprised if it spelled the end of all our lives. You must recover, Alice."

"But I am—"

"Your mind will not unless you leave this place—"

"Enough!"

I immediately looked down at the booming volume to my voice.

"If she is happy here," I whispered, "should she not stay? Until she no longer cares for it?"

The Cat stared. "And what happens when her mind drives you insane? Do you still desire this life, this world, this _girl_ if you have no reality to root it in?"

Alice slipped. She was faint.

"Call the Queen," I murmured, bowing to my knees as Alice pulled me down.

"The Queen does not wish to see her."

"Cat—" Alice whispered. Her eyes became thin slits as she struggled not to cry.

And it was then, as if on command, that the White Queen appeared. My head turned to her highness automatically and suddenly I found I myself had been holding my breath. White Queen indeed—although her gown was torn and soaked in red. She had joined our plight at the last moment, helping us destroy her wretched sister. I did not have to say anything to have her come swooping in beside me; she not uttering a word and looking like a jaded angel.

Her eyes grew dark as she looked over the girl. The Queen hissed and suddenly grabbed her side as if struck with pain. She too had fought, staved off the Knave with me for a time before card guards had swarmed. No doubt she was injured.

"She needs to leave. Someone must send her home." She didn't spare me a glance as she called over her shoulder, "Guards!"

"No," I protested lightly, clutching the girl tighter. "I will do it."

"Hatter, you cannot get attached to her. Say your goodbyes. She must go or we will all perish. Her pain is ours. Her death will destroy us," the woman reprimanded.

"I will take her home," I repeated.

"You will steal her away and kill us all."

I could not say anything. My lips suddenly would not work. I felt as if I was choking, and all the while the Queen's eyes were on my face. She suddenly inched away, the lines on her face becoming a bit less rigid.

"Then my guards shall follow you," she concluded. "But we haven't much time. She grows weaker by the minute."

_I don't remember the trip nor how we got there. All I could recall were golden curls and a soft crying sound. The woods were whispering too—they could sense the darkness creeping in. We had won the battle, but the Queen was about to win back Wonderland._


	3. Chapter 3

Alllright. Midnight screening was fantastic. I loved the movie!

I got _a lot_ of it wrong as well. Oh well, everyone's allowed their own take, right? I have since gone back and edited what I already had typed up, but I think I'm going to stick with the rules I already established and the concepts I was already planning on. The story's starting to get in motion at this point, anyway.

Thank you for the reviews thus far, I will continue to work on this thing and try to get it done in a timely manner!

* * *

I remember waking to a sound of great commotion and feeling as if I was in an unfamiliar place. But upon blinking a few times and taking a look around, I gasped when I realized just where I was.

"No."

"Alice?" It was as if my sister was screaming. There was so much noise I felt I had to clamp my eyes shut for fear of the senses overwhelming.

"Oh, thank goodness….Alice, my dear…" The sound of my mother's voice almost sickened me. How could these people think I would be happy to see them again after what they had sprung on me?

"No….no…no no! Go away!" I cried.

My sister recoiled as if I'd struck her.

I awoke to find myself lying on the regal couch in my family's living room. My dress looked old, when in reality I knew we had purchased it just last week. It was blue, black trim, and tied in a bow around the waist. I had been wearing it when that boorish Ascot proposed.

Suddenly I wanted to sob.

"Alice, sweetheart… You ran quite a long way away, my dear! And then we are told you tripped and fell and seem to have really hurt yourself… Thank God Mr. Hightopp was out and about or we may have never found you."

My face contorted as I tried to recall whom this Hightopp fellow was. He couldn't have been the new neighbor, could he? And besides…I was in Wonderland last I checked…I couldn't have simply run and bumped my head.

My mother saw my confusion and stepped aside, when suddenly a man in a crisp brown coat rose from the chair across the room.

I imagine my face was quite ugly, as I nearly choked when I laid eyes on him.

He bowed so low that I could not see his eyes but when he rose I simply could not find the words to speak. His eyes were a brilliant green and yet his face was composed of ordinary flesh tone. My mouth slumped open when suddenly he spoke, "No need to thank me, I think she's embarrassed enough." His voice was smooth and a bit too high.

My hands flew to my face and rubbed at my eyes, yet when I opened them, he was still standing there as my family and the remaining guests from the garden party chattered away.

I was given some water and some mint to chew before my mother hustled us all outside again, where I soon found the place no different than I'd left it. It was as if time hadn't passed at all. Startled, frightened and positively confused, I went to the Mr. Hightopp as soon as I could slip away from our guests.

I imagined my voice was much stronger than it sounded. "What are you doing here?"

He looked beyond me at first, but did not hesitate to answer. "I don't understand. I've always been here, Ms. Kingsley. I live just across that field over there." Curiously, he pointed to the woods, dense and dark.

"Hatter," I croaked.

He drew a long breath and finally looked from my knees to my eyes.

"Why are you here?" I repeated.

"Wonderland is not safe."

I threw my fists to my sides. "Don't do this, not again--!"

"Alice…Alice, it will all become clear if you would just listen to me for a moment, a mere moment…"

I did not know why I was so furious. "Hatter, you shouldn't be here. Because if you are here, that must mean this world isn't real."

"No, Alice," he breathed, "Alice. Perhaps I should say that Wonderland _was_ not safe. You are home. I happened here by accident."

"Are you real, then?"

"Of course."

I stared. I knew it was rude but I couldn't move a muscle otherwise. "Alice Kingsley," I finally murmured.

"Tarrant Hightopp."

"Clever name," I retorted.

"Would you prefer something else?"

"It's not my name."

He was quick. "Lovely party."

We stood not two feet apart. I folded my arms across my chest and suddenly looked away. I was flushing. Here stood the Hatter, eyes bright and tongue sharp. He was practically a different man, and yet somehow he was the same. I suddenly felt embarrassed with his eyes on me. The last I remembered, in Wonderland of course, I could look him right in the eye and hug him until I cried. Now it was an immense challenge to even stand beside him. Yet his apparent lucidity made him blind to the effect he now had on me.

"I have to go," I murmured.

He glanced at me again and smiled. His teeth were perfect, though I thought I might have caught a flash of gold in the grin. "Nice meeting you, Alice."

I didn't wait for an additional farewell. Each step towards the crowd made the knot in my throat swell and throb. As much as I didn't belong in the middle of all this commotion, these people smiling and chatting happily among themselves about weddings and parties, the Hatter did not belong here. Not in England.

Curiously, I could not find Ascot. Not that I was looking for him, certainly not looking forward to speaking to him again, but I just happened to notice. Nor was there any white rabbit scampering around, but once more, I was not looking for him either.

"So who was he?"

"…scared poor the poor Ascot off, it seems…"

"Do you know that man?"

"—rather handsome—"

"Don't you think so?"

"No."

Suddenly the four women around me went silent and looked aghast.

"No, I did not know him."

"Perhaps you should—"

"He's quite dashing, and you say he's the neighbor—"

They began peering over my shoulders to the man I was so desperately wishing wasn't there. How could these women be so taken with a strange man they had never met? Was he that charming?

"I heard he's a bit off his rocker," a man scoffed.

My eyes cut beyond the ladies to a tall man in a dark suit, dark hair and lips pressed to a thin smirk. Who were all these people? I felt I hadn't met half the guests at this garden party and yet they were supposed to be near and dear to the family.

"Oh, really?" Another lady chirped.

"I'm sure it's just a rumor…"

They were like pigeons squawking over a slice of bread.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm feeling a bit faint."

The man in the dark suit looked at me rather peculiarly. I couldn't take another man's eyes on me after the spat with the Hatter. Tarrant. Whoever he was. I suddenly pushed past the bunch, accidentally bumping into the dark man and catching a slight grin in the corner of my eye.

"I'm sorry," I stammered.

I would be reprimanded later, I knew, but I could not stay there any longer. And now—after visiting Wonderland previously, I feared I could not go back. So rather than running through the garden once again, I rushed into the house and slipped into my room, tripping up the stairs twice before I collapsed onto my bed in a tremendous fit.

I don't recall how long I'd lied there, but I remember my dreams being hideously real. Wonderland was reaching out into this world, but it was not the same. Though the Red Queen had been vanquished, her presence, most certainly, was not gone.

X X X

Dinah jumping on the bed started me awake. It took another couple moments for it to register that I had tossed off the majority of my pillows in my sleep, and though I searched for near an hour, I could not find my toy rabbit. I felt tears stinging at the back of my eyes as I became rougher and rougher with the tossed pillows in attempts to find the thing, not because I knew a white rabbit that it resembled, but because that toy had been given to me by my father when I was a child.

I guess I'd been making too much of a commotion, as my mother suddenly called for me.

Lo and behold I slumped down the stairs to find brunch and a certain mad man waiting for me.

"Hello," it sounded like a question.

The Hatter nodded at me. My mother turned, an oddly out of place smile pasted to her face as she called, "Oh, Alice! Come, have some breakfast… I saw Tarrant on the way to the market and invited him over, thought it was the least I could do in repayment for him finding you after yesterday."

"Mr. Hightopp, would you like some jam?" my sister cooed.

This was surreal. My mother and sister were taken with the man who I knew to be the Mad Hatter. Mad. Insane. I never saw him that way, but I was always aware of the name. And not only this, but the horrible proposal from yesterday seemed to have been completely forgotten.

So, brunch was…well, it wasn't unpleasant to say the least.

Afterwards, my mother had cunningly managed to shove both myself and Mr. Hightopp out into the garden. This time around, I was extremely aware what was going on. She could not fool me, and I was more terrified of than taken with this Hatter.

"Why did you say yes?" I spat. We had only take a few strides from the door and my hands were wrapped around my middle, unable to shake the shudder that traced my spine. His hands—clean and free of bandages—were folded behind his back, and today he was dressed in a smart, light suit. I'd gone out of my way to throw my blue dress into the farthest corner of my closet.

This couldn't be happening.

"She wouldn't let me say no. I can see where you get your persistence from."

His words struck a nerve. "You don't know my mother."

"Sure I do, nice woman."

I was appalled at how much of the Hatter's chatter I could see shining through. It was as if something that had been so familiar, so friendly, so _mine_ was suddenly something to be shared. I felt as if the Hatter's existence in this life was an intrusion into my privacy. He had been my friend. He had been near and dear to me. I had fought and wept for him. Yet, here the man stood with his cunning wit and sneaking smile and it made my skin crawl.

Was this the way the Hatter had been the first time I'd visited Wonderland? Surely not. I would never dream up a man as roguish as he looked.

And yet the Knave of Hearts had existed.

"Alice," he murmured. "I must speak with you…honestly."

My arms fell to my sides. "Right. You, the _Mad Hatter_ want to speak to me, here, honestly. Well then, go on."

"Alice, please."

"No, do tell me whatever it is that's on your mind, Mr. Hightopp." I laughed.

"Why is it you do not trust me? Is it all men? Or was it just Ascot's surprise proposal that's got you on edge?"

"How do you know all of this?" I sounded a bit sharper than I'd intended.

He looked taken aback. "I was there, in Wonderland with you, Alice, when you complained about the man."

"And you remember?" I breathed.

He gave a short nod.

I made a small sound and had to turn away.

"Alice?"

"Who are you?" I suddenly barked. Even I did not recognize my voice.

The man jumped back a few inches and the bewildered look on his face made my head swim from the memories it brought up.

"I am the Hatter, Alice."

"No you're not!" I yelped. "The Hatter was my friend! He was a little out of touch but he was a good man and a brave and noble fighter. You…you're some piece of slime in a suit…" I glanced his face for a brief moment and continued, my words drowning among my attempt to stifle my sobs, "With his eyes…and the same face."

"Please don't cry, Alice," he replied lowly. Suddenly his face was devoid of all previous happiness and all the mischief had drained away. His eyes looked solemn and he would not meet my face.

I could not speak. His voice echoed in my thoughts. My eyes fell closed and tears slipped away before I could convince myself to stop them.

When they suddenly swept open, the grass was greener, the sky a bit bluer, and the Hatter stood before me; coat, hat, green eyes, fiery hair and all.

Tears streamed down his face as I burrowed into his arms, whispering, "Help me, Hatter. Please help me." And though I could not explain why I was pleading, I knew I needed the Hatter beside me or somehow, someway, my life would be destroyed.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi again, here's another chapter just for your enjoyment. I saw the movie yet again last night…I really do love it. I also love the _Almost Alice_ cd, it's great inspiration!

As for this chapter, my apologies if things are getting confusing, I do realize I'm not writing in the clearest manner possible but I feel that it's permissible for this fic because it is based on Alice in Wonderland, and the Hatter's a major player and he is a bit off his rocker…

If it wasn't obvious, flashbacks are in _italics_, but they aren't necessarily in order (dear God, I probably get that from watching too much _Lost_). The one in this chapter happens just before the events of the first chapter.

Happy reading, please review, I love reading them!

* * *

Last I had seen her, she had been poisoned.

Today, she was struck with crying fits.

She sobbed in my arms so long that my feet went numb and she had tried to slip to her knees, though I wouldn't allow it. The sky slowly turned from sun to clouds, painting the grassy knoll a vivid green and then a sullen jade. Alice shook as she cried. I could not help her.

No matter what I did, no matter what I tried to say, she was always in tears. It made me physically ache. I could not breathe. My throat twisted into knots and I could have sworn I felt tears on my face at one point or another. I wanted to run for my own sake, yet the girl left me entirely immobile.

This would prove problematic if I could not fix the current situation.

It took several long minutes of repeating her name and insisting that the hour had grown late to even get her to acknowledge I was speaking. I myself was rather parched from merely watching her cry, and I knew that she, doing the crying, must have felt all the worse. She still would not tell me what bothered her, just that she was hurting and confused and needed help of some kind.

"Alice, I do not know what you want from me. I cannot even begin to help you unless you speak to me." Reason had a nice taste to it. Foreign. Sweet. Bitter.

She finally sniffled, sucked down a breath and whispered, "I want to go back."

"The Queen said—"

"I want…to go back. I want to go back or I want to forget it all."

The ultimatum stung.

I could only stammer in response. "Surely you don't want to _forget_ it, Alice…"

She nodded her head adamantly. "I would much rather be there, even under the Jabberwocky's terror and the Red Queen's tyranny than live in this world where I do not belong…no one understands…"

I thought I understood, yet her words were suspicious. "But you slew the beast. The Red Queen fell beside the Jabberwocky."

Once again, Alice didn't even realize I was speaking. She shook again as if the cold was nipping at her when I suggested she return home. It took me holding her at arms length and practically barking to her to get her to look in my eyes. "Alice, I am real. All of Wonderland—your flight there and your victory, it was all _real_. I brought you here, to your true home and some how tripped into this realm on the way. Why do you cry? What is hurting you?"

The girl shook her head. As true as I looked, I was not real to her.

"Then what is it that you fear?" I continued in a lowered voice. She looked ready to break in two. I feared what my questions would do to her.

It took her a long while to answer. Another breeze cut through the trees and shook her little frame, leaving me feeling helpless. "I've gone mad, Hatter."

Somewhere within me that struck a nerve. I drew a long breath as the words fell into a familiar pattern, as if I'd heard them before.

"No, Alice," I breathed. She edged away from me.

"It was a terribly good dream but it should be over… I feel ill thinking of home but when I think of Wonderland I feel scared. Every time I close my eyes I see the beast and I cannot face it. I…I don't think the Jabberwocky is dead."

"Don't say that," I could barely utter. It felt as if the world was closing in again. A roar echoed in the distance and it was all I could do to simply shut my eyes and shut the sound away. I couldn't make top or bottom of Alice's accusation. I had seen the felled beast myself! We had all watched with wide eyes as the Red Queen fell dead on the spot. Alice had won, had she not?

Sniffling gently, the girl hugged her sides. It was hard to believe she had donned an entire suit of armor and slain a dragon, given her current state. Alice could not make a decision on what she wanted to do nor where she wanted to go. Trapped, a victim of her own mind, she stood frozen on the spot and simply looked to me.

I shook my head. "Home."

She continued staring, devoid of objection and emotion.

"You need to go home."

I'd meant Wonderland. But her family would enjoy seeing her and nursing her back to happiness as well.

Several days passed in which I would occasionally see Mrs. Kingsley by the market or I would chance by the older Kingsley girl in the garden. But Alice, oh Alice, she had stowed herself away inside the house and as far as I know, she did not come out for days on end. I slowly withdrew from the family, fearing what _I_ had done to Alice but at the same time feeling far more frightened of what would happen should I completely dissociate from her.

Mrs. Kingsley said she told Alice of each of our encounters, speaking of me politely and with a smile, no doubt. But there was never any response. Soon enough our meetings stretched to few and far in between, and it was easy to see that something, _something_ was taking a toll on Mrs. Kingsley. It wasn't that she was aging drastically, it was just that her age had become more apparent. The fact she was a mother of two young girls and not merely a socialite became clearer to me. I always wanted to say something, anything to comfort the woman, but could never think of the proper words until we had said our goodbyes.

Then, one day, when Mrs. Kingsley looked quite gray and downtrodden, she told me that her daughter was ill. Alice had not left the house for two weeks straight. She evidently hadn't left her room for the past five days. She proposed the thought that I should stop by and visit but I politely declined, giving some excuse about an important date. She nodded and went along her way.

Alice was ill.

Wonderland was surely suffering without her.

And where was I? Parading these streets in attempt to keep Alice—and Wonderland—safe. I was doing a hideous job.

But I could not leave. It was not a matter of choice. I had sworn to the girl that I would protect her and she was not safe yet.

Every so often I had dreams of the place, though they grew more hideous as time went on. I myself often woke feeling ill and parched. Then there were days in which I could swear that I had seen the Queen herself—revived and well—cackling about a crown. The few times it had happened my heart stopped until I managed to blink and clear my vision.

The Red Queen was dead.

Alice was ill.

I decided to visit one Wednesday afternoon when the skies were cold and gray. I wasn't feeling like myself, but thought the company of the old friend would do me good, if anything.

Much to my surprise, she had another visitor.

He wore black and had long curls just as dark. I thought he resembled a raven upon first meeting him. The thought of a large black bird bent over Alice distracted me so that I did not catch the man's name.

But it only took a moment of pondering for me to realize who the gentleman was.

And then I rushed to Alice's side, concern and an attempt at comfort painted to my face. My attempt at distancing myself, and consequently Wonderland, from her was turning out positively disastrous.

She was indeed very ill, but she was still able to speak, thank heavens.

"Have you met Ilosovic?" she murmured.

I bit my tongue. Why had I been so foolish?

"Yes."

Alice nodded against her pillow sleepily. Though she looked pale and sickly, her eyes were still bright. "He's a nice man."

"Surely you remember him as well, Alice."

She looked at me inquisitively. "What do you mean, Hatter?"

I glanced over my shoulder to ensure that her mother wasn't sneaking around the hall. Then, leaning a bit closer, I whispered, "Ilosovic Stayn is the Knave, Alice."

Silence reigned for a whole minute before she giggled and replied with, "Oh, Hatter. You must be late for tea, you're talking nonsense."

My eyes grew wide.

"No, Alice, Ilosovic is the Knave of Hearts, the black knight. I don't…I don't know how but he must have some how stumbled across the line between Wonderland and this land. Alice. You are not safe if he is here."

She shook her head. "No. Hatter, don't you remember? Such a long time ago he tried to kill you and I saved you. If anyone, it's you he's after," she mused.

I felt as if someone had struck me. The way the words danced off her lips as if she didn't care frightened me. She would not listen. I began to fear I would no longer be able to reach her.

"Alice," I pleaded softly.

"Please don't," she murmured. Suddenly her eyes were wide open and she was looking me in the eye, whispering, "Ilosovic has proposed."

It was like the floor had slid out from under me and knocked me down to my knees. I couldn't be sure, but I felt as if I'd gone unconscious.

Alice had said yes to wed Ilosovic.

But hadn't proposal been the thing to drive her back to Wonderland?

I began to miss her sorely, and she was lying not two feet from me. And she herself looked honestly sorry, but I could not find words to express my shock. I had not been out of her mind that long. And knowing Alice as deeply as I did, I knew she would never allow herself to be swept up by a man so quickly. Immediately my mind was jumping ahead of itself and yet at the same time it was digging into the past…

"_Hatter! Oh, dear…I'm sorry…please…"_

_Alice was struggling through a crowd. I could see her from the corner of my eye. The chessmen and the cards were slaughtering each other all around her, and blotches of bright red splashed across her shoulders and her neck. She was wielding a sword but appeared to have even less experience with the weapon than I did, but when it did strike, her blows were devastating. She, or rather the Vorpal blade, diced three cards before she managed a clear path to me._

_A clang beside my ear brought me back to reality. _

_The Knave snarled. "Die, you damn hatter, die!"_

_I bowed low and swept the blade over my shoulder, but it was met with another sword and the jarring crash rattled my arms. How I wanted this fight to be over…_

_I heard Alice cry out again. I wished she wouldn't, for I couldn't distinguish her concern from fear anymore. _

"_Hatter! Look out!"_

_The Knave had a go at my neck with a shorter blade he'd produced from who knew where, but Alice's alarm had allowed me to jump away in just enough time. The Knave growled to himself again. He took a quick look at the girl and I saw the grimace shrink only slightly before he started after me again. _

_Swords rattled and soldiers screamed as the fight drew on. The Knave nearly had my head, and then the White Queen appeared beside me, holding a rusty blade from a felled knight. The Knave looked particularly disgruntled but grimaced and kept on none the less. Mirana screamed as the man's sword struck her side and soon she'd fallen back, her eyes watering as she uttered a thousand apologies. I watched her retreat for too long, and the Knave kicked me too the ground._

_It was then, when I'd fallen over my own feet, that I saw it coming. _

"_ALICE LOOK OUT!"_

_I'd never felt anything so imperative in my life. Just as the Knave jumped at me, sword flying over his head, I lay helpless a dozen feet away as Alice shrieked. The Red Queen's staff pierced her side and she fell on the spot._

"_No," I breathed. "No, Alice…"_

_Without a thought the sword turned in my hand, slick with blood as it gleamed against a rising sun in the background. The Knave groaned. The blade was through his chest, his blood pouring all over my being as his sword hinged just above my shoulder. He fell dead not a minute later._

_The chessmen had stormed the Queen, but she ended their lives as easily as she had Alice's. While others screamed in retreat, I heaved my sword up once more and strode towards her. She was screaming—so much screaming, as I'd slain her only companion. _

_But I only felt it fair._

_Just as I swung my blade back in preparation to strike, the Queen called her beast. The Jabberwocky swiveled and threw a shriek to the sky while the Queen's card guards stormed the field. I was ready to tear them apart when Alice pulled herself to her knees. I remember I about dropped my sword due to how startled I was._

_The Jabberwocky was closing in on the battle, jowls open for either myself or the White Queen who was hovering some distance behind me, when Alice, a mere girl, suddenly turned away from the Red Queen to strike down the beast she commanded in one swing. I hacked away a few cards to keep her safe, but Alice had fought on her own. We all watched the beast's life drain away and then turned to the shrieking Queen, who now stood silent. Blood ran down her front from a long gash that suddenly split across her neck. Soon after the Red Queen fell dead; Alice had ended the life of a tyrant and had claimed Wonderland as her own. The cards erupted into flames when the Queen was vanquished, and our entire fighting forces dropped to their knees in the face of their savior._

_But I stood, smiling, with tears in my eyes as I looked to Alice to see who she had become. Though sprayed with blood and struggling under now botched, heavy armor, she looked absolutely stunning. _

_Because she was finally free. We were all free._

_But then she had fallen. The weight of the steel had pulled her small frame down, and she hit the chessboard battlefield with a crash. Everyone on their knees gasped, and I, the Cat and the White Queen rushed to the girl. _

_We had won. We could not let that Queen take our girl with her._


	5. Chapter 5

Oh dear God, I have an audience. I've actually got to meet some expectations now.

Thanks so much for the reviews, I am aware the chapters are a little confusing. I'm trying to fix it. It's just when the author rereads something they've been thinking on for hours, they think it makes sense (because in the long haul it does to them). Forgive me!

I've still got several more chapters up my sleeve, more twists and more tender moments, and of course, more madness.

* * *

"Do you not see that this is _her_ doing? The Red Queen is surely influencing you."

"Hatter, please."

I was suddenly seeing a whole lot of the Hatter, now that I was recovering from whatever sickness had befallen me. He seemed more irritated than usual, but to be perfectly honest, he seemed more like his old self. The Hatter talked more quickly and jumped from one thing to the next; it didn't bother me, I actually found it a comfort. I giggled quite a few times when he reprimanded me for even speaking with Ilosovic. Clearly he had never met the man, as he was a charmer. I suspected they wouldn't get along though.

Ilosovic was a knight. He was some distant relative of a royal family and behaved as such—sharp clothes, witty comments here and there, and always smiling and comforting. I already felt like a princess though I'd not known him long.

But it did upset me that the Hatter was not as joyful about the situation. He wore his heart on his sleeve so often that it pained me to see his frown. But honestly, the accusations he made were just plain silly. Though his sorrow pained me, I could only give him so much pity.

"How could the Red Queen be doing any of this? She is dead, Hatter."

"So was the Knave. I…k-killed him, and yet he is here. In this world. With us."

I folded my arms. I was growing rather tired of the argument. The Hatter had stopped by again for brunch and was pleasant as always to my mother but the second the meal was over he had stolen outside to the garden with a grimace tracing his lips. He hurriedly told me he had figured it out—that the Red Queen's vile spirit had some how been preserved and was trying to push my mind in a direction I would never wander when thinking clearly.

Yes, it was absurd.

"How do you know Ilosovic is the Knave then, hm? If you killed him, wouldn't he still remain dead in Wonderland?"

"How should I know? This is not my world, Alice. The only reason I am here is to protect you to ensure Wonderland's preservation."

My mouth slipped open as he spoke. "That's the only reason?" I felt offended, but wasn't exactly sure why.

He promptly closed his.

"I think you're jealous, Hatter." There went another accusation without much thought spared ahead of time.

"I think you're trying to twist this in your favor. Alice, please, listen to me. That man is the embodiment of the Knave, you simply cannot marry him!"

"Why, Hatter? Why can I not marry a man I fancy?"

He put his foot down. "Because, Alice. If you were thinking clearly you wouldn't spare him a second thought."

My mouth went round. "Hatter, stop it. I love him."

I knew it had only been two weeks…sure, but the man had been extraordinarily kind, especially given I was dreadfully ill. He had brought me flowers and treats and even a new toy for Dinah. As I grew stronger, he summoned the courage to propose.

Yet it was as if the Hatter had not heard me. "How can you not see through this, Alice? His gifts—he's surely been tricking you. I wouldn't be surprised if he was somehow poisoning your mind in attempts to make you _think_ you fancy him."

"That's preposterous. Hatter, I can't believe you. You're supposed to be my friend."

"I'm trying to."

"I think this conversation is done, then."

I turned my back to him in the garden, and yet I could feel his frown staring me in the back of the head.

"Alice," he whispered.

I did not face him. "It won't work this time, Hatter. Now be gone." When I did not hear his footfalls fading away, I turned on my heel and barked, "Be gone!"

But he had snatched my arm and was slowly twisting it. My mouth slipped open and a gasp of pain escaped me. I did not like the dark look in his eye or the way I felt shrinking beneath his hold. As I slipped to my knees, his hair suddenly lit to a brilliant orange and his face gave way to the pale complexion I once knew. Except this time, he was frowning.

"Let go," I whimpered.

"No," he hissed. The word seemed to pain him.

"Let me go."

"I will not let her have you, Alice. The Red Queen. You killed her and she cannot have you!"

I did not understand. The Queen had been vanquished…

My eyes pressed tightly together just as the sky began to swirl and I choked, "No, let me go, Hatter…"

Suddenly my hand fell beside me. I shook quietly for a moment and then looked up to find his frown had disappeared and another, confusing expression masked his face instead.

"You must overcome this. You have to stay away from the Knave… Alice! Promise me you will…" he hissed dejectedly.

I shook my head. He made a sound of irritated disapproval. I choked back a sob.

With tears rivering from my eyes I looked to him again, this time pleading, "Hatter, what is wrong with me? Why do you say the Queen is here? And the Knave? We are not in Wonderland… Please, help me to understand. Dear Hatter, please, I do not know what to do nor even what to think…"

The skies grew darker as tears blurred my view. The Hatter knelt low before me, his thumbs chasing the tears away that had already run down my cheeks. He felt cold and blue and yet I imagined I was leaning into his touch.

"Help me," I whispered. His hands froze on my face when I looked to him. He did not look as startled as I imagined he felt, but the stark stillness about him said he was not comfortable. At least I had the ability to put him in his place. Served the man right for staring me down so much earlier, making me blush.

Yet I sniffled. My fingers twisted in the grass. "You don't like Ilosovic? If you are jealous, Hatter, please…just tell me."

"Alice—"

I don't know how, but suddenly our faces were much closer and his eyes were much wider.

"Please help me," I had tried to say. But I swallowed my words as our lips came together.

The grass turned a brighter green, and the sky became the deepest shade of blue. I saw his eyes close and felt his mouth open against mine when suddenly he edged away. Pain flooded his face. An attempt at speaking my name died on his lips. He would not open his eyes as he put a hand to my neck, and he would not hear me when I choked out his name.

Shudders erupted somewhere in the back of my mind as our lips crushed together again.

I was drowning. I was starving. The world became so loud around us, increasingly so as his touch became more desperate. Tremors shook my entire being. My eyes fluttered open for only an instant.

Then I almost screamed. I pulled away rather quickly and the Hatter's eyes flashed open. Wonderland was running wild around us, complete with a torrential sky grumbling overhead. The Jabberwock was snarling and the Red Queen was screaming in the distance. The grass was flecked with blood, and the Hatter looked the way I'd always known him to.

I sobbed and ran from him, from Wonderland and it's rage—right into a stony embrace. With the breath crushed out of me, my eyes found Ilosovic standing there, holding me protectively from the Hatter, who was scrambling to his feet with a rather worrisome expression now tacked to his flesh-toned face. I was suddenly in the garden again.

"Alice—" he stammered. I had to blink forcibly several times just to see him properly.

"Leave," Ilosovic snarled. "Leave, _now_."

"Please…Knave…" the Hatter objected.

Ilosovic's arm pressed tighter around my waist when another shiver struck me. He was reaching for something within his jacket when suddenly I grabbed at his wrist. I would have simply shook my head, kept quiet like a young lady should, but instead words tumbled out of me before I realized I was even speaking. "Mr. Hightopp, please just go."

He said nothing. There was no acknowledgement at all, save for the fact that he was backing away. The silent Hatter faded into the woods beside our garden without so much as blinking.

Many minutes after his disappearance, Ilosovic's rugged voice cut the air, "Please tell me he coerced you."

I was left staring at his chest when his grip loosened. "I do not know."

Ilosovic stayed for supper. He offered to cook with my mother. I volunteered to send for my sister and her husband, if only to have a moment to myself during the journey there. Margaret was delighted as always to see Ilosovic and for a few moments, though fleeting, I could not help but smile beside her. The fact I smiled must have, surely, meant I loved the man. Margaret chattered noisily through dinner and her husband tried to strike up conversation with Ilosovic, though the man was quiet and seemed to still have some reservations about what had happened that afternoon while I had done everything in my power to forget it.

As my mother saw Margaret to the door, Ilosovic walked me to the stairs. It was rather late. I feared opening my mouth when it was just he and I standing there.

But the man chased every fear away when he knelt low and kissed my lips gingerly, lingering a bit too long before rising to his full height once more.

"Good evening," he bade.

"I'm sorry," I sputtered.

"For what?" he replied lowly. I heard the edge in his voice.

He watched me carefully. "This afternoon. Things got out of hand."

Ilosovic shook his head. "Put it out of your mind," he murmured. "Have sweet dreams. I will be there in the morning to scare away the nightmares if need be."

He soon left, kissing my mother on the cheek on the way out, before I stole up the stairs and around the corner. I had no more tears left to cry, so instead I sank against the hallway's wall, whimpering into my palms. The Hatter had torn me in two. I truly cared for Ilosovic. I wanted him beside me. I wanted him to chase the nightmares away and kiss me goodnight. But the Hatter…

I felt as though I wanted, or perhaps deserved, so much more.


	6. Chapter 6

Hiii.

Thanks for the compliments on my writing style. I'm trying to sound a bit more…elegant since the story's set in the Victorian era, but really, I think I'm doing a terrible job. I'm glad you, readers, are more optimistic.

I promise I'll try to make the chapters longer and less...dialogue heavy after this.

So, everybody just _loves_ the Knave, huh?

* * *

I was suddenly jolted awake at the sound of a crash. My eyes cracked open lethargically—it felt as if I'd been lying there, on the bed, for months. The sky was light but grey outside, I noted, before slumping off the bed. Dishes clattered in the next room and something twinged within me.

Staggering into the room, I barked, "Be gone…get out of here—"

And then the thing caught me in the eye. I felt myself do a double take and my head spun.

"Hello, Hatter," the Cheshire Cat mumbled. He was licking the side of his paw, perched on the corner of my kitchen table, ignoring the collection of teacups he'd kicked over. A bony tail flicked back and forth and threw the things to the ground, a few of which shattered.

My mouth had fallen open at the sight.

"Why the look of shock?" the Cat grimaced. "Unhappy to see an old friend?"

"It…was unexpected," I replied after a moment.

"Prefer the company of a robber?"

"…why? Why are you here, Cat?"

"Your personal failings."

I drew a short breath. The Cat had been keeping a closer watch of this world than I had. And I'd failed to see him anywhere.

"Please go," I whispered. My hand curled around the doorframe and went white. A tremor shook my arm when I caught sight of it.

The Cat shook his head. "Can't do that, Hatter."

"I've done what I can. She wants to stay here. She does not want to remember Wonderland, anymore…"

The Cat continued to stare. I edged backwards. He leapt from the table, appearing at my feet in an elegant bound that made me feel incredibly clumsy just by watching. My mouth opened in attempts to protest, but the Cat cut me off.

"Hatter, you were the one to follow her here. You cannot simply walk away, not when she is in such a fragile state as she is. Keep her company and keep her safe—your suspicions about the Knave are on the right track. I do not know how, but this world has a way of restoring, perhaps even glorifying the evil in ours. There is something here that is frightening her, scaring her into submission. Wonderland _is_ suffering, Hatter. You did not leave her at the opportune moment and now you have become the link to her sanctuary. If you fall off the map now, she will surely break in two."

I shook my head. I did not understand. I did not want to understand.

"Hatter, look at yourself!" the Cat snarled. "She's left you unaffected…perfected your image, even…while if you look at me…." His words dropped off.

"How can you say that? How has that...that _girl_ perfected me?" I barked. My fist slammed on the table and sent yet another cup to a shattering demise.

The Cat leapt onto the table again and knocked a cold teakettle over. Amber liquid spilled across the table's surface. For the first time in a long while I was given an opportunity to get a good look at myself. The most striking thing wasn't my face. It was my hair. It lay peacefully against my head, dark and tame as it had been so many years ago. The fact that I knew the image reflected in the tea was my face, that mere fact made tears prickle in the back of my eyes.

"I won't be offended. Go ahead, flatter yourself," the Cat chuckled darkly.

The word "handsome" drifted across my thoughts as the Cat spoke. He must have developed mind-reading skills somewhere along his travels. I glanced to him after a long moment, knowing my eyes were now darker than his, an emerald versus the cat-like yellow they had practically resembled. My face wasn't white as a sheet.

"It is impossible," I whispered. I swiped blindly at the tea, irritated that the Cat was, of course, right again.

"Even you don't believe your words," the Cat smirked, "I can see it in those pretty eyes."

I grimaced at him. "Let me go back. She'll be free of the burden of Wonderland. She'll be free to run her life however she so chooses."

The Cat's ears fell flat. "Are you insane? Oh wait, don't answer that…" He disappeared and rematerialized beside the window. "We've already established that you cannot simply leave…"

"Make up your mind then, Cat!" I snapped. I wanted him out of the house. I wanted to disappear myself.

"Don't let her wander, Hatter. She needs guidance and safety from whatever it is that chases her. You swore yourself to protecting her, so protect her, Hatter. She needs to heal."

Silence suddenly reigned. The Cat's ears sprang stark straight. His eyes went wide—pupils dilating though the light had not changed, and then he growled, "We're already too late." The cat's thin body faded into nothingness as he jumped forward once again, snarling, "Get dressed, quickly!" The Cheshire was standing at the door the next time he appeared.

"What—what? What—"

"Stop stammering. Get yourself together. We must go, _now!_" The Cat implored.

And so, that morning, a talking Cat had roused me out of bed and into dress. In this world, it was a once in a lifetime occurrence. Then I chased said damn cat for several acres worth before he finally came to a pause.

In a single breath he whispered, "You must stop this."

My eyes went wide. "Me? And what's wrong with you?"

The Cat grinned slightly. "Your vision, or your mind, must truly be failing you, Tarrant."

And then he was gone.

"No… Oh…dear God."

We had appeared at a familiar piece of lawn. Several dozen chairs were set up, flowers adorned every flat surface, and scrumptious smells floated from the house across the way.

The last wedding I had heard of was that of the Red Queen and her king.

I much preferred to keep it that way.

It took several long minutes—during which I could have sworn I must have had a pocket watch lodged in my ear because I could literally hear the ticking—for me to actually find a face I knew. It was Mrs. Kingsley who I chanced first.

"Oh! Mr. Hightopp, good, you've arrived just in time for the celebration…"

"Mrs. Kingsley," I stuttered, "Mrs. Kingsley, what is this? What's going on here today?"

"Oh dear, did you not get the letter? Well, lucky you showed up when you did… We're having a formal party for Alice's engagement." The woman seemed very delighted and pleased with her daughter, but after announcing the celebration aloud, her expression dampened slightly. She looked me in the face for a long while before muttering, "You would have done well too, I suspect. We all loved you, Tarrant." The woman then huffed and apologized, "Oh, dear, I'm so sorry, please forgive me for my rambling…"

It was hard to simply nod my head. The woman shattered my heart all over again. And Alice had refused to listen when it was putting us all in danger.

"May I speak to her? Wish her well, and all," I proposed.

"Indeed, of course, of course!" Mrs. Kingsley swept aside and pointed to the house.

I took the stairs two at a time and was nearly to the top when a blonde bob appeared downstairs.

Her eyes were terribly sad.

My mouth fell unhinged for a moment, paralyzed at the sudden sight of her there, looking small and breakable once again.

"Hatter?" she asked, her voice so high and disbelieving one would think she hadn't seen me in years.

I took the stairs back down one at a time and called her name in response. To me, her name sounded broken as well. It didn't taste as sweet nor sound as melodious as it should have.

Alice put a hand on the banister as I neared the bottom step. Her eyes never left me. She finally spoke, her voice so small as I stood close. "What are you doing here?"

"Evidently your mother invited me," I replied sheepishly. Alice seemed not to hear me. It stung deep inside to see her eyes look beyond me. "But it was the Cat who dragged me here."

"The cat?" The girl sniffled again. I reached for her but she suddenly turned away, her mere whimper turning into a light cry. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Her tears beckoned me closer. I could not _not_ stand beside her in this hour of pain and despair. But this being said, it took everything for me not to turn and run the other way—her pain was so immense I felt exhausted while simply standing there.

"I-I'm sorry. Dinah just ran away this morning, we think someone left the door open too long and he just slipped out…"

"T'was the Cheshire that brought me here, Alice," I quickly clarified.

She glanced over her shoulder and seemed surprised to see me so close, but at the same time her expression was questioning my words. "The…chess…Cheshire?"

"Indeed, he's grown a bit bony but he appeared at my abode and all but destroyed what few teacups I have…"

"What are you talking about, Hatter?"

Her words struck me like ice. If anyone were to be called a character, it would be the Cat. Fear began to work its way into my mind, just as it slowly seeped onto Alice's somber face. If Alice did not remember the Cat, what, if anything, was left? I could not let her slip away…I could not let Wonderland fall through her fingers.

"The Cheshire Cat, dear girl," I repeated, "Blue and gray fur, round eyes…he can evaporate?"

She shook her head. "Are you trying to make me think I'm more mad than I already feel?"

"Not at all," I sighed. It was so hard to reach her. 'No, no, Alice, that isn't what I mean in the slightest."

She shrank away from me.

"What are you doing here? Why do you keep showing up? What have you done to trick my family into thinking you _belong_ here?" she jabbed. With each step I took towards her, she jogged away another three. It soon turned to a chase, with me repeating her name while she threw the same questions at me. I just need to reach her. I just need to touch her, to hold her and have her look into my eyes and see the truth of it—that this, that I and she were both real…

"Why? Just tell me why you're here, Hatter!" she screeched. Alice stumbled across the front porch, pushing past chattering crowds and staggering over the lawn while I struggled to keep up. At the same time, I was shocked that no one stopped me or even her, the screaming girl who was running at full speed away from her house and home and the people she loved.

"Alice!"

She froze not two steps into the forest. Then, as she turned to face me, I froze. All words were lost.

Tears muddied a spotless face. The dark, tangled forest made her look entirely too small and too delicate. My fingers twitched as I began to reach out for her but thought better of it at the last second; I stood frozen in her wake.

Alice was broken. I broke Alice.

"I…I" she choked.

My heart seized in time with her stammers.

"I do not know…what it is…I want…anymore," Alice whispered. "I thought I knew… But then…whenever…you… I can't…I can't decide." She was crying soundlessly.

Out of nowhere I found the words to speak. "All I've done, Alice, is try to keep you safe. I did not know the dangers of this world nor was I ever expecting to face them…never in my wildest dreams would I have come up with this… I do not wish to hurt you. I do not like it when you cry. I want you to go home," I implored while knots welled in my throat, "…but I want your home to be Wonderland. I cannot make the choice for you, Alice. You must make it on your own. Only you can decide your fate."

She blinked and sorrily shook her head. "Do not make me choose," the girl whispered. "I cannot choose."

I took a step towards her. "Is this what you fear?"

"W-what?"

"The future?"

"I will not go out there," she suddenly barked. "I will not go out there and make a fool of myself again!"

"Alice, no body's making you a fool—"

"I will not go out and face them, you cannot make me!" She was screaming once again.

"Alice—"

As I stepped towards her, the ground gave way beneath us. The last things I recalled were a horrific shriek and the sound of a hundred ticking clocks.


	7. Chapter 7

I need to think of a better summary. I don't like it anymore.

But! I'm rather proud. It's looking like I will actually finish this story in a reasonable amount of time! Hurray for sticking to timely updates! However, I also feel like I'm starting to get very repetitive with my word choice. I'm sorry. There are only so many words I can use to make it seem smart-er (and not like some elitist essay where I don't know what the hell I'm talking about).

And as another FYI, the rating will soon be changing. I spent a long while yesterday toying with things and rewriting some future bits and they honestly just seem to get darker and darker each time I go back and edit.

Enjoy the journey back into Wonderland! It is dark and Alice is running out of time to find herself…

* * *

Darkness.

A dankness.

Something was broken.

Shattered pieces of a dream gone wrong lie around her body.

Wonderland.

But was it so wonderful anymore?

The girl struggled to her knees. It took several moments for her to properly orient herself with her limbs. The sun was beating down on her back by the time she managed to her feet.

What was this place?

She couldn't feel her hands, her feet, her head as she turned in a complete circle without so much as moving an inch. The sky, orange and murky, looked as if it was ready to fall from over her head. The sun was dark and looked menacing as it peered between sparse clouds. And the sky was probably the friendliest thing she could see.

The trees were gnarled and starved, their limbs jabbing out in random directions in an attempt to reach said putrid sun. Mist soaked the ground and forced a shudder all the way to her soul. Strange sounds could be heard all around, and yet she stood entirely alone.

Alone.

Her heart raced. She felt as though this fact was very wrong. She should not have been alone.

Where was everyone? _Who_ was the everyone she was looking for?

A bird cried overhead. The girl shrieked and dropped to her knees again. The sensation was jarring. It then occurred to her that she hadn't even taken a step in this cruel world and she felt entirely defeated. She shook on the ground, hugging herself around the middle in an attempt to stave off the fear. Soon she was calling out for help, but this too proved a failed attempt as she was too frightened to raise her voice above a whisper, for fear that someone actually _would_ find her.

X X X

Something else was broken, and not but a league away from where the girl lay.

Here was a man sprawled about the ground with a broken heart; it wasted away from trying too many times and wishing too hard for something to save them all.

Ticking clocks woke him.

The sound was soon followed by a low rumbling. The Hatter, he too struggled to his feet, feeling as though his arms and legs didn't really belong to him. He was truly shocked to see the bloodstains smeared against his fingers and beyond that—the tatty coat and it's tassels… The Hatter shook in his old brown shoes.

This was very wrong.

What made it worse, however, was when the Hatter looked up and found three gargantuan rose stalks staring him in the face, each captivated by hunger and housing a dark look in their eyes.

They were very large roses. With very large teeth.

The Hatter swallowed. It was not the teeth or even the faces the roses possessed that frightened him. It was their towering size and their sudden lunging at his being that made him yelp and stagger away. He clumsily maneuvered himself into the woods as panic and fear worked their ways on his mind.

His hands were shaking and wrought with tremors when he glanced down at them. The ticking had since vanished but now it was his heart pounding feverishly in his head. Taking a glimpse over his shoulder, the man found himself alone in a stretch of woods that looked just as happy to consume him as the roses had been, except here the trees did not have faces nor fangs with which to do so.

He could not get his hands to stop.

As he pleaded beneath his breath for something to stop the shaking, a name came to mind—clear as day and bright as the sun.

"Alice," the Hatter whispered. His insides flopped upside down. Why did hurt so? A mere mentioning of her name brought on such an inexplicable grief that he wished he had never met said Alice in the first place. Doubled over with a gnawing, nay, roaring pain, the Hatter—for an instant—wished for death.

Then his bright green eyes swept open in shock. He suddenly could see nothing, but that was the least of his concerns.

"Alice," he whispered once more, though it sounded like a desperate plea.

She must be dead, he concluded, if thinking of the girl's name brought out such a horrid pain in him. But who could have done such a thing? Who could have killed a little girl?

How little had she been?—he wondered. The Hatter simply could not recall. He'd known that he had met her twice, but could not put a number to her face.

Who killed her?

Surely no one else, no one other than the Knave.

The Hatter wondered how he knew their names.

He sank to the ground, still hugging himself around the middle and wishing for something to make the pain stop. It raged so ferociously within him that he began to wish for death.

Alice. She must be dead, he thought. It shocked him all over again.

It went on like that, running in circles, for a long while. The woods whispered softly as a breeze blew by, and soon mist began creeping in around his feet. It wasn't quite nightfall when, though the Hatter did not, could not hear it, a great commotion grumbled in the flowers' bed.

A dozen Chessmen came thundering down the path into the woods, having found a set of tracks they did not recognize. Each stood six foot tall, several holding great spears and some with worn out swords. On top of their heads was a helmet no ordinary man could see through—they were fitted just for the Chessmen, these knights and bishops that crowded the unfortunate Hatter.

He did not recognize them. In fact, he found their appearance quite odd and frightening, much like living statues. He began to stand, opened his mouth to ask for assistance, when one chess piece lunged forward and struck the Hatter sideways. A red line split on his face from where the staff had hit him, and the Hatter was then perfectly content to stay curled on the ground.

This place was not friendly in the least, he soon realized, as another staff beat him against the ribs.

"Wait!" a high voice screeched.

The Chessmen parted, though they still glared viciously at the Hatter.

A mouse and a dog trod though the crowd.

The little white creature slipped off the dog's shoulders and sprinted as fast as its little legs would allow until it reached the Hatter's face.

"Oh, 'Atter… Oh…oh no…"

A long moment passed before he would look up to her.

"Mallymkun?" he whispered. The little mouse nodded.

"Come…come now, gotta get you cleaned up…take y' to the White Queen, she'll fix y' up," she said, skittering to his hands and tugging on his bandaged fingertips. Soon after she rounded on the Chessmen, her little voice full of rage, "How dare you, attack the 'Atter! 'e's one of us, don't ya know?"

"What's happened here, mouse? I remember names, some faces…but not this place, not this nightmare…this horrific nightmare of a place," the Hatter sputtered.

"It's Wonderland, 'Atter," Mallymkun replied simply, scurrying up his arm and to his shoulder as he pushed off the ground once more, "It's jus' a whole lot worse for wear than it used t' be."

"But if it's Wonderland…then why is it such a nightmare?" The mouse on his shoulder pointed in him the direction opposite from where they came, through the forest and eventually up to a great white pathway. Sullen Chessmen fell back around the Hatter and the dog that followed him, though each glared bitterly at the back of the man's head. Who was a stranger to lead their forces?

"White Queen says it's got something t' do with Alice," Mallymkin continued, "since the Red Queen fell, everyone's been 'urting. But you'll remember soon, 'Atter, I'm sure of it."

His fists coiled tightly.

"Alice is dead, Mallymkun."

She looked at him with total shock.

X X X

"It's just a dream."

"It's only a dream."

"It's just a dream gone wrong, that's all."

Taking slow breaths and the path one step at a time, the girl had pulled herself to her feet and began to make her way down a jagged stretch of trail. No one had approached her yet, no man nor beast, and this simple fact had lifted her spirits, if only slightly.

She wouldn't allow herself to consider what would happen should no one find her at all, should she be trapped in his misty, morbid realm for the rest of her existence—

"It's only a dream."

"And in dreams, no one can hurt you. You do not cry in dreams, nor can you die in them."

Several times she had tried to repair the situation on her own; she'd pinched her arm and counted backwards from 100 twice, thinking she would fall asleep and wake in her bed at home, but to no avail. Then she tried squeezing her eyes shut and wishing for a better dream, then closing her eyes and forcefully thinking of another dream, but she simply could not. The only things she could produce equated to nightmares and forced her to open her eyes, for the image hiding behind the closed lids was worse than the land she was currently lost in.

Then came a great rumbling and shaking as if the earth itself were about to split in two. Five horses charged through the thicket and onto the girl's path, then came three dozen soldiers, each dressed suited that resembled a white chess piece splashed with red paint. The horses screeched and bucked before the pieces began to head straight for her. Startled by the scene, the girl turned and dashed away from them, but unfortunately she was nowhere near as swift.

Several Chessmen swarmed in a wide circle around her, trapping her in their formation when a bishop launched himself at her, his gleaming sword held high.

"Stop, _stop!"_ someone cried.

The Knave's blade flew from his hand, slicing the soldier's arm clean off. In the backswing, the edge caught the girl. She cried out in pain and confusion as she stumbled over her feet once again. She looked a miniscule thing before the black knight and his towering horse.

"Alice," he breathed. "_Alice_, what are you doing here?"

"Is that my name?" she wondered aloud, her voice shaking just as her hands did. She clutched at her arm where the blade had struck but blood still trickled through. Horrified at the crimson stain, the Knave slid off his steed in one great sweep, bowing to his knees before her.

She cried out, this time with overwhelming joy, "Ilosovic!" A familiar face was enough to make her heart soar.

"Alice, oh Lord…" He promptly stood and took her free hand, lifting her onto her feet as if she weighed nothing at all. "What have I done? We need to get you back to the castle, your majesty…" His lips soon pressed to a thin line at the vocational blunder.

Alice hesitated. "What? What castle? What's going on, Ilosovic? Last I recall I was at that Lord's home…something about an engagement…" She bowed her head a moment, trying her best to recall the details. "Red hair and blue eyes…and a ghastly, horse-faced smile…"

Ilosovic had to force himself to not recoil in shock. He too had recalled an engagement party in a world unfamiliar to him—but he believed it to be for himself and Alice. "How did…how did you get here then?" the Knave questioned lowly, holding her shoulders.

At first the girl said nothing. Slowly it came to her: "A…a rabbit, perhaps?"

His eye grew wide.

"A little white rabbit…with a waistcoat…"

Alice did not recall her last venture to Wonderland that occurred not but a month ago. This place was as foreign as a six year old's memory could be. Curiously, she still recognized _him_ though he had not been part of the Red Queen's court when Alice visited thirteen years prior. The Knave was blinking furiously and swallowing a dry knot. Thoughts racing entirely too quickly, he suddenly turned and snarled, "See to it that the infirmary is cleared."

Chessmen crudely splashed with red paint bowed and thundered away. Alice flinched at the noise.

"My dear," he breathed, "I thank God nothing's happened to you."

"Nothing more than a fright," Alice replied, "Don't you see? It's a dream Ilosovic."

He raised a brow at her accusation.

"Why else would you be so tall, or chess pieces act like soldiers?"

"Oh, girl," the Knave grumbled to himself. "Come, let's get you to a doctor, shall we?"


	8. Chapter 8

Now rated M for violence (probably should have already had it that high) and other things..

The updates have been coming so quick because I've been trying to have at least one chapter in advance done before posting the current chapter. However, my spring break is now here and I have noticed myself slowing down a bit…but never fear, we're more than halfway thru now, I will get it done in a timely manner.

So, here's _two_ chapters to hold you readers over in case the updates don't come so quick in the next week.

* * *

The thing that stood out most in her mind was that the castle was incredibly spacious, as if it had been built to house a giant. The walls and windows dwarfed poor Alice, but seemed to fit the Knave just fine.

This, and the place was oozing with fantastic red décor.

"You are much taller than I remember, Ilosovic," Alice commented. But then she could not recall where she remembered him from. Time was playing a cruel joke on her mind but she assumed that she would soon be better—the doctor had given her a pill and ordered bed rest, which she had no objections to. She was quite tired.

"Do you know why you're here, Alice?" the man muttered in response.

Truth be told, he could not figure out the memories lodged inside his mind either. He remembered a strange world in which he had indeed been shorter, or perhaps everyone else was just taller, where he had courted young Alice and scared away one of her suitors. Yet, when he woke one morning, he was lying in the Red Queen's castle. He had not figured out why he was there, or why he had such vivid visions of the _other_ world. According to Alice's recollections, he must have just had a very real dream in which he was to marry Alice. In a way it made sense, but in many others it did not. He couldn't have possibly left Wonderland, he thought.

Or did he leave the place?

The Knave did not like the way his mind was bending so feverishly over what surely must have been a dream. Certainly must have been.

Right?

An '_other_ world,' how ridiculous.

His eye pointedly looked to Alice.

"It is a dream, I already told you," she replied.

"A dream?" he repeated, "What exactly is a dream?"

"This place," she insisted.

"Wonderland?" the Knave uttered.

"Is that what this place is called?" She nearly laughed. "Simply must be a dream, then."

Alice skipped down the hall, her head feeling rather light after visiting with the doctor. The Knave stared at her dumbfounded. He shut his eyes tightly and shook himself, trailing in her shadow as he led her to the Queen's room. How the girl could be so…lighthearted and so completely oblivious at a time like this, he would never know.

"Your quarters," he soon announced, pushing the heart shaped doors in and revealing a beautifully done up bedroom within. The girl's eyes lit at the dazzling interior, but the moment she approached the bed she felt faint. The Knave spared her no words as she collapsed there, cushioned by too many pillows and looking too small on such a spacious bed.

His jaw locked at the sight. Though it took him a moment, he did indeed leave her alone to get some rest, locking the doors from the outside as he left.

But somehow, a particular White Rabbit had wriggled his way in.

"Alice," he hissed. "Alice…wake up… Please wake up?"

Her eyes fluttered for a moment, and then her vision cleared. It was extremely early—the sun wasn't even up. The moment she caught sight of the rabbit, however, she sat straight up and chirped, "You're the Whtie Rabbit!"

The creature nodded slowly while giving her a rather curious look.

"How do you know my name?"

"How do I _not_ know your name? You're _the_ Alice. Wonderland's champion!"

It was her turn to ponder. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. I'm no 'champion,' I'm just Alice."

The rabbit twitched. His fur was a bit too long and his eyes were a little darker than they should have been. He looked worn, and if it were possible for a rabbit to appear aged, he certainly looked it. The White Rabbit groaned, "Oh, no…not you too!"

"'Not me too' what?" Alice pressed, "You and Ilosovic seem awfully concerned about my wellbeing in this strange place…Wonderland, was it? I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Wonderland, Alice," the Rabbit implored in hushed tones, "It loves and adores you. You are the champion of this world… Wonderland, it seems, is directly connected to you!"

Alice's face fell a little flat. "Now, Rabbit, that just seems a little silly. And not to mention dream-like."

"D-dream…?"

"It all must be a dream, is it not?" she continued, a tinge of irritation in her words. No one was listening to her.

The White Rabbit looked crestfallen. His face went a little longer and his eyes turned darker still. His little paws running over one and other, the Rabbit finally whispered, "How could this be a dream, Alice? I am as real as you…if you would cut me," he motioned to the bandage on her shoulder, "I would bleed too. Last I recall, dreams weren't there to hurt people."

"But you're a talking rabbit."

"And you slew the Jabberwocky! Doesn't that mean anything to you?" The Rabbit touched her knee.

He was solid, warm, and had the softest paws. This White Rabbit was as real as could be.

Then his ears prickled and stood straight up. In a single leap he bounded off the bed with wide eyes, warning, "Don't be fooled by pretty words, Alice! Keep your wits about you!"

Her head was reeling as the rabbit slipped out the window and into the courtyard and the garden beyond. She soon realized why the creature was in such a hurry, as the doors to the bedroom soon came sweeping open. Light poured in as if the action had made the sun rise, and in its wake stood the shadowy figure of Ilosovic.

He smiled smugly. "Morning," the Knave called, offering a short bow before taking a step forward. "Did you sleep well?"

"Indeed," she replied.

He drew closer still. She folded her hands across her lap and watched him expectantly, waiting for his next question about how she felt or inquiry about Wonerland. The Knave stopped inches short of her, glanced the girl over and then pressed his lips to hers. The kiss lasted only a second, in which Alice's eyelashes fluttered over his face and she found herself holding her breath.

"And the shoulder?" he murmured, stepping back and brushing the bandage.

The shudder ran to her spine.

"I'm not sure," she replied slowly, "I just woke up, haven't had the time to stretch it out."

"Hm?" the Knave murmured, "Well then let's see." Alice unfolded her fingers and offered him her hand, which he took as if he was accepting a delicate flower. The man helped her stretch the limb this way and that, rolling her wrist in his grip and running his fingers along the length of hers as he did. His eye carefully watched her face for any sign of resistance or pain, but he could find none. He drew a short breath and kissed her knuckles, muttering to the skin, "I think it's healing well."

He was not expecting her to draw up onto her knees and take his head in her hands and kiss him as she did, but Alice went ahead and did it nonetheless. The Knave put a hand on either side of her on the quilt and knelt closer still, drinking her deeply and wanting so much more. But it was like a dream, as if he had been there before and knew the outcome, though his thoughts were blurred and washed from a hungering want.

This was not the Alice they knew. This was not the girl who had destroyed the Red Queen. Alice drew a short breath and the Knave whispered, "Your highness," once again. She did not hear him as her lips pressed to his once more and worked feverishly against his mouth before the Knave flew backwards and growled, "No... This is not the hour for such behavior."

The girl looked as if she'd been reprimanded, struck on the wrist, and was all together confused as to why. Alice settled back into her spot on the bed and took a few breaths to steady herself.

"I'm sorry…I…"

She did not know what had come over her. Though the kick in her heart was a delight, it was not much like Alice would behave. Of course, the Knave didn't mind in the least.

"Don't be…"

She shook her head.

"Perhaps…" he hesitated, "a tour should be in order. Of your new home."

It sounded like a grand idea. And then it took nearly the entire day.

Here was the courtroom and the Red Queen's court themselves, all six of them, still decked from head to toe in red, white and black, but no longer sporting misshapen body parts to fit in with the Queen, seeing as she was dead. Then there were the toads, looking fanciful in their frock coats. Next came the introduction of the Red Queen's army—no longer composed of card guards, no, this army was made up of several dozen Chessmen, each with a white base and splashed with a bucket of red paint. Alice inquired about their appearance, but the Knave brushed her off.

He thought it best to not mention the White Queen at all. No need for her to know these Chessmen had either willingly converted, or had been captured and beaten into loyalty.

Then there was the kitchen, the massive dining hall, the ballroom in all its splendor, and then a trip through the beautiful green gardens.

But everywhere Alice looked, all she could see were horrid, rugged walls masked with beautiful cloths. Was the place not unlike a jail cell?

Yet she kept her mouth shut and played a game of croquet with the court, finding the flamingo bats rather curious, and out and out demanding a new ball—no creatures would be harmed under her watchful eye. The court let the little girl win, as she grew bitter as the day grew long. Alice was tired and her feet hurt her so, she complained, making the court chew their nails and glance this way and that, hoping the Knave would be able to soothe her growing temper.

And so he did.

Following another visit with the doctor the Knave escorted her to her room once again, but just before reaching the door she'd glanced sideways to him, finding that he was staring straight ahead, looking very focused and very far away. She began to giggle at his stark appearance when suddenly he turned to her and pressed her to the wall, his hands lifting her by the waist while his lips stole her breath away.

She was a bit too small, he realized.

But that didn't seem to bother Alice. Her shaking fingers clung to his neck. His lips found the hollow of her throat, and he smiled when she whispered his name.

It was clumsy and reckless, but she was caught up in the mystery of the unknown and he in the passion of the moment—they nearly trampled a little White Rabbit as they made for the Queen's room.

His ears flopped back flat against his head.

"Oh dear," the Rabbit trembled.

The night was spent with whispers twisting through the trees and the halls; the Queen's throne room was locked and lodged shut. A glimmering sword and belt hung on the hook just inside and discarded bits of armor made a trail towards the bed. Entirely absorbed with him, Alice's toes curled and her heart fluttered. One minute she whispered his name and the next it turned into a scream.

Suddenly the girl turned over, her stomach feeling upside down as a strange anxiety trickled down her spine. She toyed with her fingers nervously and then glanced to the man beside her, he lying on his back. The heart-shaped patch forever glued to his face had turned a bloody red.

"How did you get it?" Alice barely breathed.

His good eye followed her gaze.

She didn't realize she'd been rude. Alice gasped, "Oh, only if I may ask, of course…"

He turned slightly and took her hand, watching it rather than facing her prying eyes. "It was when I first came here," he murmured while his thumb brushed along the length of hers, "The Jubjub bird attacked me when I stepped into the Red kingdom." Alice put her other hand over his. She only felt it proper to such a dramatic answer.

He struggled to find his words. "I…The bird. The bird carried me about a dozen feet into the air before I could have a go at it. It dropped me…and then with it's other foot tried to reclaim its prey before it fell… The claws caught me along the face and took my eye with it."

"_Damn bird!" the Knave roared. He had fallen no less than ten feet out of mid air, smashed his shoulder and his side all the while half his face was marred and bleeding. The four men whom he had brought with him from the Outlands stood paralyzed in fear._

"_What are you waiting for you imbeciles?" But the Knave wasn't about to let anyone help him. He shuffled to his feet with some difficulty, groaning and hissing as he pressed a hand to his face. Blood ran swiftly between his gloved fingertips. Soon the Knave had pushed his way past a dozen card guards, even punching two to the ground before he shoved his way inside the castle's courtroom. _

_There was the Red Queen surrounded by her humorous, costumed court._

_Without a word of warning, Ilosovic dropped to his knees before her highness. He had only uttered three words before the Queen turned and practically ran towards the bleeding man, she too bending to her knees and gasping in horror at what her Jubjub bird had done to such a handsome man._

"_Have him bandaged! Now!" the Red Queen shrieked. "Well, don't just stand around, fix this man!"_

_The court pulled Ilosovic to his feet and towards the infirmary before the Red Queen called, "What's your name, kind sir!?"_

"_Stayne," he had replied with a wicked grin._

_When the court cleared, the Red Queen swooned and collapsed into her throne. Red Queen, or Queen of Hearts, at that moment she wouldn't have minded either title. An immense attraction struck the both of them that day, one which the Queen would repeatedly site as love-at-first-sight._

"Did it hurt?" Alice asked.

"Not as badly as you'd think," the man murmured. A smirk played his lips as he recalled the day and the way the Queen had looked at him. The way Alice's face had turned from sorrow to delight when he found her was not so different. The Knave then knelt a bit closer to her on the tousled bed and stole a kiss off her lips. Though this time, she did not smile into his touch.

Leagues away, the Hatter could not find sleep. Something kept his mind stirring—cycling through emotions faster than he could put names to them. The biggest of which was regret and remorse, quickly followed by an anger that he feared would never be quelled.

It was shortly after dawn that the Rabbit had stolen away, sneaking past vicious Chessmen and stealing into the wicked forests that bristled with an eerie delight. The White Rabbit had to repeatedly shake his head to push the image away—he cursed himself when he thought of what would be done when the news was heard.

The Knave had taken Alice, _their_ Alice, from them.

He needed to reach the White Queen's castle before it was too late.

* * *

A/N: _Please _don't hurt me with your angry words_. No outrageous flames either, please. _It took a fair amount of working myself up to not out and out hate the idea/hate myself for thinking of it.

I swear it will get "better" and the ending will be well worth it.


	9. Chapter 9

Here's chapter nine—added at the same time as eight to help soften any hard feelings? :D

Some questions/confusion should definitely start clearing up from here on out.

Also, I use too many commas. This is another thing I'm trying to fix.

* * *

"Alice! …A-Alice!"

A magnificent set of white doors crashed in. A half dozen white Chessmen filed in, followed by a panting, positively frantic White Rabbit.

Three bodies turned abruptly from a daunting throne to meet the voice.

"Your majesty….m-maj-majesty… Alice…Alice is alive!"

The White Queen's eyes grew wide. The Hatter's—not far from her, his fists coiled. The March Hare crouched behind his friend and cried out in shock.

"Impossible," the Hatter snarled.

"But she is! Your majesty, please," the Rabbit repeated, bowing quickly before he blurted, "Alice…she's being kept in the Red Queen's castle…the Knave…the Knave is poisoning her and making accusations that the two are in love!" Another quick breath, "He's trying to trick her into thinking that she is the Red Queen!"

The Hatter mumbled something about the 'bloody Red Queen' in the background while the White Queen's eyes flickered here and there, processing the Rabbit's accusations.

"How can this be so?" the White Queen mumbled.

The poor Rabbit looked to be on the brink of tears.

The White Queen's castle had been hurt quite a bit—the walls had lost their luster and began to turn gray, the trees soured and bent in the hot, thick air, the grass had started to brown around the lawn. The Queen herself looked older—more lines had appeared on her worn face. The March Hare had taken shelter in her kitchen though he was a terrible chef; he more often broke things than actually concocted them. Mallymkun and Bayard posed as messengers and protectors of the outer reaches of the White kingdom, but their forces had grown quite weak and numbered as of late.

The Hatter looked the same, just more bitter. He hadn't been able to shake the anger that struck him that night, one that festered with any thought of Alice. He had only been there a day or two and already was beginning to recall Wonderland due to his fortunate remembrance of the White Queen. So when the Hatter had returned, the Queen had done everything in her power to help him, to repair his horribly shattered memories and broken mind, but it was to little avail. He insisted Alice was dead, and each time he did so it was as if he was losing a part of himself.

Thus, here was the Hatter, his face gone dark, clutching a long sword, and obsessed with ticking clocks. He hardly strayed from the White Queen, fearing what would happen should he be left on his own again. She did not mind, not in the least—it was good to have such colorful company—but each time she glanced him standing there, feeling such vengeance, her heart tore a little.

"I-I…I-I do not know, your majesty. But it _is_ Alice, this I swear to you… But she does not recall…" the Rabbit whimpered, feeling as though he was shrinking in her gaze, "Please, you must do something!"

"I cannot change what she has done to this place," the woman replied in a hollow voice. "If she is in love with Stayne…"

"But she isn't, your majesty! _Our_ Alice would never turn to such scum," he insisted.

The Hatter turned away, his head going this way and that. He was suddenly in search of an invisible clock. Mirana glanced to him and sighed heavily.

"It is taking all of my power to keep this kingdom from crumbling, Nivens. Between the madness of the Hatter and the Hare and the decrepit state of Wonderland, I haven't anything left in me. And my vows forbid me from setting foot in the Red castle unless my sister has completely vanished. Alice…" the Queen murmured, her eyes fell closed as if she was concentrating on something very far away, "Alice…her embrace of the Red Queen's castle…her ways…"

"What ever do you mean, your majesty?" the Rabbit pressed.

Mirana's face was split between pain and anxiety. She chewed her lip a moment, glanced to the Hatter again, who was now searching behind her chair for the non-existent clock, and then back to the Rabbit.

"I…I do not think I can fix her. Do you recall the last battle for Wonderland?"

"Certainly," he replied.

The White Queen looked terribly frightened, but her voice remained entirely even. "The Red Queen struck Alice with her staff, did she not?"

"Yes…and we all thought the girl was dead," he confirmed quietly, his long ears drooping at the thought.

"Alice rose and became our champion, and perhaps she is even the true Queen of Wonderland…this place makes her more herself, it seems, as she does not fear the land or the creatures here. And Wonderland has in turn accepted her, a girl from the other world you spoke of…" the White Queen sighed gingerly and her fingers twitched a bit, "It makes me think…that some how…Wonderland must live through Alice."

The Rabbit's heart sank a bit further, but he could not explain why. "It seems impossible."

"Not impossible," Mirana replied, "it was she who the prophecy spoke of all along. Wonderland has known, even before us, that she was meant to be here."

The Rabbit shook a little. "But, your majesty, what does that have to do with Alice 'embracing the Red Queen's ways?' She would never--"

The Hatter stood straight up, glanced side to side, and then frowned a bit. The clock still eluded him. The White Queen brushed him off just this once, muttering, "Perhaps it's best if he does not know." She knelt to the Rabbit's height and continued slowly, "Alice is not herself. The Red Queen's staff…it was her most beloved possession. When our parents gave me the crown, she fled from us and took up that staff. No one knows where she got it from, but everyone in Wonderland knows the Queen would not be parted from it. Even the Knave was not so privileged as to hold it."

The Rabbit's eyes implored her for more.

"I believe that whomever gave it to her cursed it. The thing was so close to her heart and she was so obsessed with it… I feel as if part of her lived in that thing."

"Like her soul?" the White Rabbit suggested quietly.

Mirana did not reply. Instead her face turned sad without so much as moving a muscle, and then the Rabbit added drearily, "And she struck Alice and it must have went into the girl…"

"I'm sure she was not expecting Alice to rise again…perhaps the Red Queen had begun to fear the thing and wanted the curse dispelled elsewhere. But now…if you speak the truth, the Red Queen may very well be back again in Alice…which would explain why I feel her presence so."

"How will we stop this, Mirana?" the Rabbit barely breathed.

"Stop what?" the Hatter chirped. The ticking had subsided, if only momentarily.

The Rabbit and the Queen looked to him sadly. Excuses ran wildly across their thoughts. Mirana was the first to shake her head and rise to her proper height before explaining, "The Red Queen's forces are on the rise again, Tarrant."

His eyes glimmered a moment before going a shade darker. "Down with the bloody Red Queen," he simply replied.

Mirana nodded, looking frightened and perplexed. Yet, after a moment of silence from the Hatter's end, she turned back around and spoke to the Rabbit, "We haven't the proper forces but I'm sure that the Gryphon will be able to help us…"

"Off with _her_ head, we ought to kill her, damn well strike her dead… _Kill her bloody red head!_" suddenly the Hatter was snarling, brandishing his sword and tromping angrily to the White Queen.

"Tarrant—" the Rabbit squeaked. The March Hare yelped and ducked away.

The Queen turned on a dime, her mouth in a little 'o' before she barked, "Hatter!" But he was still drawing his sword, as if _she_ was his opponent.

"Look out!" the rabbits cried in unison.

Mirana just had time to duck the sword's sweep. When she found her feet again, she screamed, "_Hatter!"_

His eyes went wide and turned the brightest green in an instant. The blade trembled in his hand. The Hatter said nothing—he simply stepped away and clutched the sword close to him, looking tired and dejected.

The White Queen drew a slow breath and watched him retreat with tired eyes of her own. She only had so much strength. She only had so much _patience_. Soon the woman was turning away from the Hatter again, this time much more slowly should he dare to step forward again, before she began again, "Let us go to the garden, Nivens."

So they retreated to the outdoor sanctuary, the courtyard looking so serene versus the angry, grumbling sky. It had since dyed itself a deeper shade of orange, and as the two looked for the sun lost behind a thicket of black clouds, the Rabbit shivered once again.

"Has the Hatter truly gone around the bend, then?" he asked in a small voice.

"He is most certainly trying," the Queen muttered darkly. She placed two fingers to her lips and blew out a most shrill whistle, one that cut the sky and the clouds to summon the magnificent beast overhead. It only took a mere moment for him to come sweeping from the sky, and what a streamlined, deadly thing he was.

With a triumphant screech and a dull thud echoing under their feet, the Queen and Rabbit found themselves in the company of a particularly large, bird-like beast. Snapping at the air with his great sharp beak, the Gryphon gave a short nod and a deep bow before grumbling, "How may I help you, your highness?"

The White Rabbit almost seemed to cower away from the thing, as he was always forgetting just how big the Gryphon truly was. However, the last either creature had laid eyes on one and other was well in the past—the Gryphon had only been freed at the last battle for Wonderland where Alice had slain the Jabberwocky. The story had said that long ago the Gryphon and the Jabberwocky had been tangled in a tragic battle—one that the majestic bird-beast was destined to lose. But he had challenged the Jabberwocky for Wonderland's sake, he too trying to do something, anything at all to save his home and his friends. The Gryphon had been beaten badly and shamed by the Jabberwocky, and soon after was imprisoned within the mountain that the Jabberwocky had bound himself to. The dragon fell asleep for many a day before Alice reappeared, bearing the Vorpal Sword and challenging the dragon to yet another duel to the death. When Alice had vanquished the beast, his spell on the Gryphon shattered, freeing him from his rocky prison just as little Alice collapsed on the battlefield.

The Gryphon since had felt forever indebted to little Alice, but never managed to meet her before she slipped back into the other world. Instead he gave his gratitude to the White Queen, allying with her should she ever need advice or defense, whatever it was she so desired.

"Please," the woman began, "Please sir Gryphon, fly far and wide, gather our men. We must do everything in our power to revive the White kingdom so that we may rescue Alice."

"Alice?" he replied, his talons dug into the earthy ground.

"She has come back to us, dear Gryphon," the White Queen continued, "but has been taken under by the Knave of Hearts."

"Then I will slay him myself, and have it over and done with," the beast snarled. He had not even met Alice and yet he was willing to risk death for her safety.

"No, Gryphon," the White Queen cut in, "Rally our troops, and then your battle can proceed. We mustn't walk out unprepared. The Red kingdom has grown strong in Alice's absence, and I am certain they will do everything in their power to keep the girl hidden away there."

"Yes indeed…" the Gryphon murmured, "We must fight. I will search for allies if you wish, but I cannot guarantee for how long. If little Alice is in trouble, then we must certainly reach her sooner rather than later."

It was rare that the Gryphon would compromise if he did not like a plan, so Mirana gave a little smile and motioned him to the skies again. "Fairfarren and a safe voyage to you, sir Gryphon."


	10. Chapter 10

Still truckin' along.

Anyone played American McGee's _Alice_? There's where I pulled the Gryphon from. I loved him but found him a bit annoying, personally..

Enjoy chapter ten!

* * *

The sun was high in a dark gray sky. Alice had vanished, slipped from the Knave's watchful eye, and though he tried to look for her, she simply would not be found. His eyes grew dark and a strange pain had settled itself deep within his chest. He rose quickly that day to assure he hadn't be attacked and wasn't dying, but after determining there was no bodily harm, the Knave was left perplexed.

He soon clothed himself and stole from the empty quarters, finding a particularly quiet court member passing by.

"Geneve, have you a moment?"

The Knave, tall as he was, still had to jog down the hall to catch the woman. He smothered a dark laugh when she turned, as he recalled the time when she had worn such large ears to please the former Queen. She looked less than impressed, eyes narrowed up at him and her arms folded tightly across her chest. She refused to be intimidated by the Knave, but at the same time she was very aware of his prying eyes.

"What is it, Knave?" the woman spat. "Looking for another woman to take under your wing, you crow?"

His brow drew tight. "No," he quickly hissed. "I was looking for another woman to speak with as I am a bit confused and in need of advice. I thought a woman's opinion would do me good if you're in the mood to hear me through."

The woman pursed her lips. "What is it, then?"

"Don't give me that look," he growled, "I needn't share anything with you if you're just going to assume the worst of me."

Geneve sighed and loosened her arms a bit. "My apologies if I don't think the best of you, _sir Knave_. It's not as if you've had the best track record in this kingdom."

"And that's exactly what I've come to you for. I…I think I'm rather taken with the little Alice," he grumbled quietly. The pain in his chest seemed to alleviate slightly.

The woman's lips twitched to a slight smile while her brows rose into a skeptical arch. "Please," she cackled, "You kidnapped the girl and have since coerced her into thinking _she's_ the Queen. That's not love, Stayne. That's twisted malice."

"No, Geneve, that is not how it is…not any more. It is true that I took her to keep her from reaching the White Queen, but it was she who wondered if she was Queen of this kingdom…I did not put that thought into her head—"

"But you didn't tell her the truth either," Geneve scoffed. "You're a liar, Stayne."

"But since… The girl clings to me in a way unlike the Red Queen…it is as if she truly needs me, Geneve. And it is something else to truly be needed, wanted by someone. I feel as if I could fight to the death single handedly for her."

"Given she slew the Jabberwocky, I doubt she'd need that of you."

"Then what is this, Geneve?" the Knave whispered. "The girl has somehow captivated me."

The woman shifted away from the Knave, though her face had softened considerably. The Knave, always a pawn of the Red Queen though he believed he was higher than her highness, was always known as scum in their kingdom. He was vicious and intimidating. He took women behind the Red Queen's back, delighted them, forced them, and ultimately seduced his fair share of them. Fearful of his sword, no one spoke a word of his rendezvous, and thus the Red Queen was none the wiser. She had loved him for his roguish brutality and even slew the king for him. Yet here stood the Knave, his dark shell in pieces around his feet as he quietly confessed his love for a mere girl.

"Poor Knave," the woman finally sighed. "I doubt if the girl feels the same. You've abused her and kept her prisoner here, if I were her I would feel trapped and terribly alone."

"I haven't a choice. If she is to run wild through Wonderland she could revive the White Queen's army to its former glory. I brought her here to save this castle. I care for her wellbeing. She shall stay."

Geneve shook her head. "We've already lost the fight, Stayne. Using the girl is a desperate last attempt that will likely end in your deaths. I've heard the Hatter is in an insurmountable rage because he believes we've killed her."

"The Hatter does not scare me," the Knave murmured. His eyes were distanced though, as he recalled a former violent encounter.

Shrugging it off, Geneve replied, "Do whatever you see fit, then. I cannot sway your mind if you're set in your ways. Just be aware that the girl could easily wake up one day and remember who you are and what you've done to her. I personally hope she does for I don't believe what you've done could ever equate to love. You've all but destroyed a young girl's innocence. I cannot think of a worse crime."

The Knave remained entirely silent as the woman turned away. Anger trembled down his spine, and he soon turned and launched a fist into the castle's wall.

Why was it that he wasn't allowed a second chance?

The shadow of a knight disappeared from the hall in the opposite direction of Geneve. His black cape billowed menacingly around his hunkering form. He needed to be anywhere but this decrepit, vile place—it was flooded with too many memories, too much hurt and pain, too much of himself, for him to even breathe. So, with sword hitched to his side, he took a turn to the stables, but to his utmost disappointment found the majority of the horses gone, including his own towering steed.

It wasn't until the Knave found himself in the garden that the horse showed itself—the black steed was thundering up the dark jagged path to the castle, panting and eyes wide. He came to a clumsy halt at the Knave's feet, bowing slightly in the glaring face of his master, before huffing, "Sir… The Gryphon…he is approaching fast."

The Knave showed no hint emotion besides his persistent anger.

"Get inside," he snarled.

"You know this means you must hide the girl—"

"I know that, you _ass_," the man barked, slapping the horse on the shoulder. The beast snorted and cried out before thundering forward once again.

If the Gryphon dared to enter the castle grounds, the Knave would just shoot him out of the sky, he decided. He wondered if he could throw a sword as high as the beast could soar.

Then, much to his surprise, he found the girl perched on one of the stone ledges lining the rose bushes. She seemed to be speaking to something, or someone, but promptly fell silent when the Knave approached.

"There you are," the man stated rather matter of factly.

"Where else would I be?" Alice replied, a slight smile touching her face. "Have you been looking for me long?"

"No, but I am glad to have found you. This place is in danger…we must get you inside the castle quickly," he replied.

Her smile vanished with the breeze. "Why? What's happened?"

"My men have just informed me there are enemies of the Red Queen coming to attack. I cannot have you out here, in the open and in danger."

Her mouth opened slowly. She did not look at the Knave when she added, "They're after me." It was no question.

"Yes," the Knave murmured. His eyes narrowed at her sorry expression.

Her hands folded delicately across her lap. Done up in a pretty red dress, she almost looked like the Red Queen (on one of her tamer days, of course). But when she spoke, she was suddenly an entirely different person. To the Knave, she was not quite Queen nor was she exactly Alice.

"It's funny," she began, "I don't ever remember becoming Queen… I remember a great commotion and so many people thinking I was so important, but I just can't recall…"

"I'm sure it will come to you in due time, my girl," the Knave replied, feeding her the same lie he had given her time and time before. He then held out a hand to her, which she happily took. "You'll be safest the farther you can get inside the castle. On an ordinary day I would not worry, but with your memory not quite returned to you yet, I just worry, for your sake…"

Alice clung to his arm, a bit too tall for her, and pondered over his advice. "And where will you be, Ilosovic?"

"Out front, fighting, of course." His words were so loaded she could practically grasp his determination out of the air.

But Alice suddenly stopped. "Oh, no, Ilosovic, you can't!"

Such an order was foreign to him. "And why not?"

"You're willing to put your life on the line for me?" she questioned.

"Most certainly," he replied lowly.

"I cannot…I simply cannot let you," she murmured, shaking her head and her golden curls about. "Please, is there any way…I only feel it right to be beside you, certainly so if these people are coming after _me_."

The Knave bit his tongue.

But he could not say no to such a face.

"It would be unwise…" he struggled, "you would be safer…"

"No," Alice shot back. Her eyes went a bit dark.

The girl's determination left him speechless, but he did not understand why. His fists curled as he suddenly turned away, Alice looking forlorn and irritated before she jumped to her feet and trailed after him. A lady, a _Queen_ fighting, it was such an improper thing, Alice knew, but in her dream it should not matter—she felt it was only right. The court fit her with beautiful red and silver armor; the smallest set they had still hung heavily on her shoulders. The Knave's Outlanders offered her a sharpened sword with great reluctance.

In the hour the Gryphon approached, the four were outside in the field with Ilosovic, each brandishing a sword and two with a makeshift catapult.

"Kill it!" the Knave snarled, the golden beast soaring over the horizon.

Young Alice stood in the courtroom quietly chatting with the somber beings she found there, each of them looking at her as if they had made some grave mistake. Yet the moment the Knave's words echoed through the hall, the girl sucked in a quick breath—kill?

The dream was about to sour into a nightmare.

The girl shoved past the court and thundered outside, her voice shrill when she spotted the brilliant Gryphon overhead, "Stop!" But the Knave's men still grappled with the catapult, loaded with flaming splinters of wood and broken bits of silver. When Alice dashed forward and attempted to wrestle them away, the bird screeched.

The Knave's expression fell flat when he found Alice there among his men.

"No," he hissed. "Get her inside!"

The Gryphon screamed again. The Knave turned on heel only to come face to face with the beast itself. Stayne was a tall man, but the Gryphon stood taller still. Dwarfed by the beast, his face turned to a dark sneer as he held his ground. He feared neither man nor beast.

"Hand her over, Knave," the Gryphon growled.

His lips turned up at the corners. "Mm? To you and what army, you flying rat?"

Alice cried out behind the Knave, she struggling to free herself from the Outlanders' hold as they tried to force her back inside the castle walls.

"Alice, I will rescue you," the bird snarled, "I swear to it!"

"Do not speak to her," the Knave spat. He soon drew his sword, but before he had the chance to take a swipe, the bird was gone.

Flying fast and in frantic mind, the Gryphon returned to the White Queen's castle in record time. A crash landing brought the entire court outside to where the bird fell.

"I tried…" he wheezed, "I tried to bring her back, I truly did…but the Knave…the Knave has a threatening eye and a sharp tongue—you were right…they are prepared to do anything…to keep her there."

Mirana bowed before the Gryphon and patted his feathered head. "You've done well, my friend, that's all I could have asked," she replied with a sad smile.

The beast shook his head so ferociously he nearly knocked the Queen over. "We must save her, Mirana. They're turning her into a prisoner there. Stayne is up to no good, you can see it on his face. He fears us. He may have his forces, but he _fears_ us. He fears _you_."

The White Queen's eyes flooded with concern. The beast was right; they needed to reach Alice immediately. They needed to have saved her days before. Her mind was torn, however. Their numbers had fallen. The Gryphon, as massive and as menacing as he was, could not save Alice on his own. The Hatter would still not see reason in their plot. Charging to battle would surely spell all of their deaths.

"But we cannot wait," the Queen whispered beneath her breath, her eyes falling closed as she considered their position. If Alice deteriorated any further, Mirana was almost certain it would cement the ultimate demise of the Hatter, and this, she simply could not let happen.

She suddenly stood. The Gryphon looked to her with a glimmer of hope shining in his dark eyes, while she turned away from him with a distant look in her own. "We must prepare for battle. We are to leave immediately," she announced loudly. The Chessmen raised their swords high. The Gryphon came to his feet again. The Hatter's eyes lifted from the lawn to the Queen, his silent response was positively unreadable.

"Hatter," the Queen murmured lowly. She stepped towards him and with the last of her strength, tried to reach him once more. "Alice. Alice is a prisoner in the Red kingdom, and I beg of you, you must go to rescue her."

He shook his head. "It is impossible. Alice is dead."

"No, Hatter, she is very much alive—"

His eyes squeezed shut and he stepped back, "She is dead…at the Knave's hand…"

Mirana stepped closer once more and took his face in her hands. His grief tainted her heart with darkness. "Who put that thought into your mind? Tarrant, who has told you that Alice is no more?"

He did not move.

"Tarrant?"

His coiled fists went lax. His voice dropped as he replied, "Why else would I feel such pain? I feel terrible, and frightened, and I cannot see… And there are clocks…you see…they tick so loudly…"

Mirana nodded, her eyes closed as she listened to his words. But his mumbling had turned to nonsensical ramblings once again, and the Queen could no longer reach the lucid sector mind. Her power to heal was gone, had been used up, and she was left with a raving Hatter to show for her defeat.

"…dead at the Knave's hand…"

She tried one last time. "Then go with us, Hatter, to destroy the Knave. Avenge her death."

"When?" he pressed, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

"Today. Now," the White Queen spoke.

"…kill the bloody Red Queen…"

Mirana chewed her lip. "No, no, Hatter. The Queen, the Red Queen, my sister, Iracebeth, she is dead. The Knave is left to lead the place, and he must be finished." Ironic, she thought to herself, given it had been the Hatter himself to slay Stayne in their last battle. It was then that dark thoughts raced across her mind—the image of the Hatter at the point of the Knave's sword—until she backed away from the man and dashed inside. "Come, Tarrant," she cried.

The sun began to dip in the sky. The moon peered from behind the forest. The White army had been outfitted with shields and swords, the Chessmen raging forth under the command of the noble Gryphon. The smaller creatures, the Doormouse on the Bloodhound's back, the pair of Rabbits, they padded behind the soldiers, with the White Queen and the Hatter on a pair of pale white steeds behind the lot. The Queen's crown shone brightly in the fading light, this, if anything, was to be taken as a reassuring sign.

Likewise, not all was well within the Red castle's walls.

"Ilosovic! What has gotten into you? Where are you taking me?" Alice jerked away from the man's clawing grip on her arm. "Answer me," she growled. The Knave was dragging her backwards through the castle walls, his temper borderline irate after her interference with the Gryphon.

With an impatient huff of a breath, the Knave snarled back, "I was about to ask the same of you. How dare you step out and give yourself away like that—"

"You were going to kill an innocent creature—"

"Of the White Queen's army."

"The White Queen?" Alice pressed. Why was this the first she was hearing of another Queen?

The Knave was biting his tongue. He had slipped up once again. His eyes rolled to the ceiling before closing entirely. "The tramp is coming now," the Knave replied, "to see to it that we are vanquished."

"Surely there is reason behind it, then!" Alice spat. "What have you done in my absence, Ilosovic? What has happened here?"

"Perhaps the White Queen wants us dead for her own good," the Knave suggested darkly. "Ever consider that, _your majesty?_"

Alice stepped aside.

"Ilosovic…" she began in a whisper, "I…I thought…"

He shook his head. "This is for your own good, Alice. Stay in the castle. Do not speak to anyone unfamiliar."

"I—"

"Swear to me," he implored.

"But—"

"Alice!"

Her lips pressed to a thin line. Unable to look away from his harsh glare, she could only nod in the slightest.

His hand gripped her shoulder tightly. Somewhere in the distance a shriek could be heard. The Gryphon was approaching once more, singing a song of death and defiance. The Knave's face fell, cracking along the center and pushing his brows together in perplexed fashion. Little Alice trembled under his hold, her mind breaking in two as the man she once trusted began to show his truer, darker colors.

She wanted so desperately to wake from this torrential slumber.


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry if this one seems a bit subpar, there's a lot going on and it took a lot of words (more than I've used in any previous chapter, geez) to get it all down. Editing this seemed to take forever--I was evidently more interested in finding music to listen to for writing future chapters. Enjoy it nonetheless—the battle for Wonderland is upon them!

* * *

The line had been drawn.

White and Red stood square across the field from one and other, Chessmen with their swords drawn and their heads held high while silence rang for miles. Ilosovic Stayne had drawn his last confident breath as he left little Alice in the hallway. The daunting man stood before the red-splashed army, his men not a dozen feet behind him. The Knave's cape billowed around him, the rippling cloth the only sound to be heard before he drew his blade.

Across the way, the White Queen reluctantly slipped off her horse and stepped forth. This moment rang profoundly in her mind, drawing up a hideous memory from not too long ago. In the memory, the Knave had been slain, Alice had taken the Jabberwock, and the Red Queen fell dead soon after. The young champion Alice had won back Wonderland, but soon fell when poisoned with the Red Queen's spirit. Since, her mind quickly deteriorated while others tripped across the line between Wonderland and the _other_ land, their memories tainted as they tried to process their new reality.

Alice, returned home, became confused and mistook her world as Wonderland. Thus when she fell back into Wonderland, she simply thought it all a dream. Frightened of what she faced while at home, Wonderland mutated in her absence, and thus left them in this decrepit state, the inhabitants aging and sickened, while many lost their minds.

The White Queen's eyes lifted to the Knave.

"Do you realize what you've done, Ilosovic Stayne?"

He squared his shoulders.

"Did you think that there would be no consequences in poisoning a young girl's mind? Your own memories, assuredly unstable, somehow possessed you into thinking you loved the girl. You've thus decided to take it upon yourself to push her into the empty Red throne, with no concern as to what it would do to her or the world around her."

"Such deep accusations, Mirana," he hissed, "but I haven't the time."

"Stayne!" she cried, "If you continue like this, you'll kill us all."

The Hatter stood not far from the White Queen, his eyes fiery while the shadows beneath grew darker by the minute. His eyes locked upon the Knave, who offered a chilling smile.

"If it's the Hatter you're worried for," the Knave chuckled, "Go on, bring him forth. I'll put that sorry excuse of a man out of his misery here and now."

His eyes had practically lit aflame.

"So guarded of your people," the Knave continued, "one to love and cherish each of their pathetic souls. That is how kingdoms wither and waste away, Mirana. Didn't your mummy and daddy teach you that?"

The Gryphon's talons clawed the earth. "I've had enough of this chatter," he muttered beneath his breath.

But the Hatter was the one to truly act first.

Wielding a long blade, he ran at the Knave snarling something about 'down with the Red Queen,' while Mirana screamed for him to stop. She was so desperately hoping they wouldn't need to fight, though this time she knew it was an impossible wish.

Swords crashed against one and other. The Knave laughed in the Mad Hatter's face.

"She will never have you," Stayne roared. "Who could love someone so mad as you?"

He absolutely delighted in the raging effect his taunts drew from the Hatter. Surely the man was on the brink as it was—it would only take the slightest push to break him now.

Mirana's mouth slipped open. She wanted to scream. Instead she rushed forward, prompting her Chessmen to thunder forth around her. This of course led to the Red army's charging

And thus the battle for Wonderland began again.

"Hatter!" The White Queen knew her attempts would be useless. He was locked in battle with the Knave, his mind far from where he stood, his heart set on destroying the thing that took Alice from him. From all of them. It was a tragedy she alone could not fix.

So Mirana drew close and snatched the second blade hanging by his belt. This one glimmered in the light and sang a beautiful tune when she held it so. With the Vorpal Sword in her hand, the Knave backed away.

Taking a page out of his former highness' book, the Knave commanded, "She has the Vorpal Sword! Take it from her! And off with her bloody head."

The Red army roared in agreement. So long as that sword existed, they would live in fear. It had destroyed the Jabberwocky, and was thus seen as the most devastating weapon in existence. But of course, in the White Queen's hand, they seriously doubted its usefulness. Said Queen had made vows that stated she could not kill.

The Knave disappeared into his oncoming forces. The Hatter and the Queen were soon swamped, in over their heads, and tragically overwhelmed by red-splashed Chessmen. Standing back to back, the Queen whispered an apology. The Hatter merely growled. Luckily a certain gold Gryphon leapt into the fray, or else the pair would have assuredly been killed on the spot.

Chessmen did not fall as easily as card guards, the Hatter soon realized. In his desperate fighting he did not notice the Queen's disappearance, that she had been elbowed and beaten about the head before several stony arms wrapped themselves around her. At least he did not notice until the Vorpal Sword fell into his open hand. His eyes went wide and flashed green for just a moment as he looked upon the thing, white and shining in his hand. Mirana was a dozen feet away and crowded by half a dozen soldiers, she a glowing angel among the sea of red.

With new determination, the long blade fell to the wayside as the Hatter clutched the Vorpal Sword proudly. He soon realized that this blade did a far better job of eliminating the enemy as opposed to just any old sword. But somehow, in the back of his mind, this seemed wrong.

But it was like a veil had settled around his mind—though Mirana was being dragged away, the danger and the fear of the situation was not felt. The Hatter was completely consumed by the death and bloodshed around him. Even young Alice, the very reason why he fought so ferociously, had vanished from his thoughts.

Mirana's eyes did not open again until she'd crossed over the threshold of the Red castle's grounds. A gnawing pain began to consume her, leaving her feeling positively queasy and powerless to stop those who had hooked their arms around hers. A small sigh escaped her; surely she was dead, and if not then she would be in good time. Her eyes fell closed, her head hung low, and she accepted her fate—until, of course, she saw the girl.

With golden curls sloping down her shoulders, the girl was unmistakable even from the back.

"Alice!" the woman cried out.

With a new determination invigorating her, Mirana strained against the soldiers and even managed to her feet before they noticed much.

"Alice, please!"

The girl turned abruptly, her curls swinging around her shoulders made the moment all the more dramatic. She knew her name, this was true, but not the voice from which it was uttered. It was like a far off dream, the woman's voice was so melodious yet incredibly mysterious. But the moment Alice laid eyes on her, she knew exactly who she was.

"The White Queen!" Alice choked. She took two steps towards the woman when the red Chessmen on either side of their prisoner grunted angrily, looking to Alice reluctantly. They only paid her a moment, however, before rushing off again, dragging a disheveled Queen with them.

The girl's brow furrowed as she cried, "Wait!"

But the Chessmen marched purposely ahead of the girl, storming into the ballroom and throwing the White Queen inside mercilessly. She fell hard on her side, crying out as the doors crashed shut ferociously behind her, leaving her in a great dark cavern of a room. Alice came to a skidding halt at the Chessmen's feet, they glaring at the girl as if she had no business there, though they said nothing.

"Move," she growled.

They did not.

She drew a long breath. If she was their Queen, then certainly they would bend to her will… "Move, now!"

With another grunt and a reluctant step to the side, both Chessmen moved from the door which Alice promptly shoved at. Though she used their entire body weight, the door barely budged. With a little cry she tried again, ramming the barrier with her shoulder, but again, barely causing the thing to shake. The Chess pieces grunted once again, though Alice swore it was more of a laugh. She threw them dirty looks before one lunged forward and smashed his fist into the door, tossing Alice's little frame inside as well.

She grumbled to herself as she tumbled inside the massive room, her elbow scraped and her knees jarred before she realized just what was going on. The massive room was suddenly lighting up, flames exploding on the tips of a hundred candles; the resulting halo of light revealed a particularly dark and downtrodden looking Queen in the middle of the room.

"Alice," the woman whispered once again.

The little girl looked up as if her name had been screamed.

"Oh…my dear girl," she trembled.

Alice suddenly rose and crossed the room to her, feeling as though this woman was in need of help—not imprisonment. The woman in white knew her name, had not fought, and had a voice that resembled wind chimes. Certainly she could be no worse than the Knave, Alice thought.

Kneeling before her highness, Alice questioned, "Um, I feel as though I know you. But…I don't recognize you, if that makes any sense at all."

"Oh, Alice," Mirana whispered, her voice choking up, "You were right," she laughed, "I am the White Queen, my true name is Mirana of the White Court… But you, you're the important one here! You're Alice, Wonderland's champion…everyone in this place knows your name, your face."

The girl shook her head in the utmost disbelief and denial. She knew nothing of this champion title everyone aside from the Red court was trying to push on her.

Mirana edged closer, taking the girl's face in her hands. With every last ounce of fleeting hope within her, the Queen implored quietly, "Alice, please, you must believe it. In your heart, in your mind, you are part of this place…it bends to your will, it hurts and cries for you…Wonderland only feels joy when you do. You must restore this place, please, dear Alice. I fear that if you cannot, then no one will…"

The desperation rooted in the Queen's gaze and shaking in her voice sent a shudder through little Alice. "What am I supposed to do? I'm just Alice…just Alice!"

The Queen offered a sad smile and patted the girl's curls as if to console her, when it was really Mirana who was on the edge of tears. She knew this would be her final speech. "And that will do just fine," she replied, "Only you can stop the Red army once and for all. Destroy the Knave with the Vorpal Sword and I'm certain he will never come back."

Alice barely nodded though she was unsure of what she was agreeing to. However, Mirana's fear became hers when the doors crashed in behind them, two Outland knights and a pair of Chessmen standing in its wake.

The girl jumped up defensively before the Queen though her face was marred with lines of terror. Mirana rose slowly as well, though she pushed Alice aside as the soldiers came for her, swords shining darkly as they were drawn.

"Fly, Alice! The Hatter, the Hatter has the blade…you must convince him that you are truly real!" she cried.

But her words were soon cut short. Alice cupped a hand to her mouth to smother her scream.

With one slick flip of the wrist the Outlander had lopped off the White Queen's head. Her blood poured sickly down a once pristine white dress before it was lost against the red grain of the carpet.

Alice caught sight of the red splashed sword before she turned to run, a sudden, uncontrollable fear driving her from that wretched place. The knights somehow missed her leave, they instead basking in the glory of the downed Queen, but everyone looked up when a sudden, deafening scream split the skies.

The girl had only made it outside the gates when the screech echoed overhead. Somewhere across the horizon a great ball of fire erupted and threw a great column of smoke to the sky—further blackening an already menacing sky. It did not take long for those on the field to realize that it was not merely a cloud of smoke, but rather a shadow of a great flying dragon.

One of the women in the Red court fainted. The Outland knights quickly pushed their way outside, both nearly dropping their weapons as their heads turned skywards.

The entire Red army rejoiced.

The Jabberwocky had miraculously been revived.

Alice's heart beat so frantically she thought it would punch a hole right through her chest.

"Don't let her get away!"

"Grab her, quick!"

It didn't help in the least that the Outlanders were screaming behind her. At least she'd picked up her sword on the way out.

It was here that instinct took over and little Alice bound away, staying just out of the reach of the Outlanders as she wove between dueling Chess pieces. She spotted a rabbit here and another there, smiling inwardly as she noted their little suits of armor and their little clubs. Then there was a dog and what she swore to be a mouse riding upon his back… Alice was nearly laughing as she tripped.

Then suddenly all happiness was lost and the urgency of the situation was very real. While one of the knights had gotten tied up with a few white Chess pieces, the second charged relentlessly after Alice. He sprang up from out of nowhere, sending Alice into shock as she tried and failed to find her footing. Somehow her mind worked ahead of her, throwing her arm out to counter the knight's sword swipe in the nick of time.

Her eyes were wide as she looked at them there, swords locked against each other…until the knight snarled. Startled, Alice screamed and jumped away. Absolutely terrified of just how real the man's fury seemed, the girl fell into her instincts again and found that she was quite good with a sword when absolutely terrified. She jabbed at him a few times before, in the blink of an eye, she took his life with a fatal blow.

Once again, shocked beyond belief, Alice turned and ran, forcing herself not to look at the blood smeared against her sword.

Another shriek escaped her when suddenly a floating cat's head appeared beside her. Sick of jumping out of her skin, the girl wheezed, "Please! I feel I'm about to be sick!"

But the Cat simply grinned at her dismay. "Decided to join the fight now, have we?" he purred. Soon after the rest of his body appeared and Alice felt herself draw a sigh of relief. Things could not get any stranger, she thought, or hoped.

"Who are you?" Alice cried over the battle's roar.

"You know me, girl," the Cat continued to smirk.

It sent a shudder down her spine, but she hadn't the time for his riddles. "I am supposed to find a Vorpal blade?" she called while gripping her weapon all the more tighter.

The Cat bowed his head low and looked beyond her shoulder. "He stands beside the Gryphon—"

Another shriek split the sky. The Cat temporarily vanished, Alice and half the field dropped to their knees as the massive Jabberwocky drew close to the battle. Mouth wide and talons stretched wildly, Alice cried out as the dragon smashed into the Gryphon, throwing him yards away with a thunderous crash.

"—or at least he did. The Hatter holds the key to all that you are looking for…" the Cat murmured beside the girl's ear not a moment later.

So she made her way through the thicket of bodies and bloodshed, struggling to draw close enough to even see said Hatter. Yet, when she made it through the crowds and found him there, dueling with a determined Chessman, she suddenly felt weak.

She knew his face, as if it was from another life. When he vanquished the Chess piece he turned and their eyes met, nay locked upon one and other for quite a time. His face was entirely unreadable. The only thing that alerted her to the fact that she was in any kind of danger was the fact that his eyes looked as if they could have been on fire.

So when he suddenly came at her, her heart pounded so loudly in her chest that she could barely hear him roar, "_Down with the bloody Red Queen_—"

"Hatter, _no_!" the Cheshire Cat screeched not far from behind. The Gryphon, having taken flight only a moment before, cried overhead.

Alice was paralyzed, rooted on the spot, and felt entirely helpless despite the armor she donned and the sword she so desperately clutched. Surely she would wake. Certainly this man wasn't the Hatter, charging at her with sword in tow and malice in his eyes.

She screamed. The sound was foreign.

Out of nowhere, a shadow of a man appeared not a foot before her. He only had just enough time to reach her. The sound of two swords crashing together jarred the girl from her stunned state. Then the two men went at each other again and again. It took everything Alice had to process what had taken place that fraction of a second.

"No," the Knave snarled. "I will not let you take her."

The swords sang eerily as they scraped past one and other, the Knave trying to force the blade from the Hatter's hand.

The Knave had come to her rescue. He was saving her from the raging Hatter.

And so the Hatter stepped away, although it was only for a moment's reprieve. Before the Knave had a chance to better grip his sword the mad man was at it again, throwing his blade forward with such force that the Knave actually slipped backwards as he leaned all of his weight against his own blade. Snarls erupted from either man when the Knave managed to force the Hatter away. His large stature completely covered little Alice, the Knave a shield to her majesty.

"Come at me again," the black knight prodded darkly, "I'll take your damn head off."

And so the Hatter did.

Yet his sword cut low, hacking into the Knave's leg and drawing blood while the knight howled and thrust his sword low. He too drew back blood, from high on the Hatter's shoulder.

Alice cried out, "Hatter…" The girl stepped aside so she could look the man in the eye, and then shouted, "_Hatter_!"

His eyes were about as vibrant as his hair and dark shadows were smeared beneath either orb. When his gaze snapped to Alice, she swallowed a lump of fear—he looked entirely consumed by anger and bitter vengeance. The Knave offered Alice only a short glance before he yelled something imperative about her safety, which she didn't hear in the slightest.

"Hatter, please, open your eyes!" she cried again. "It's me, Alice!"

The words rang in the air.

He'd stared a moment longer, jaws slipping open as he truly saw her—his eyes drastically lightening as his mind came to the realization that it was _the_ Alice standing before him.

And then Alice had a realization of her own: the Knave would kill them both.

"No," she choked as she thrust her sword forward, the thing coming to rest in a very solid object.

The Hatter's sword had almost slipped from his hands. In his defense, Alice pierced the Knave's armor from the side, jarring him into a momentary submission. The black knight groaned as blood spilled through his armor. He suddenly felt as if the life had been drained from him entirely.

Once again he glanced to the side, and there stood Alice, red-stained sword in hand, wild blonde curls framing her face—her face…was one of defiance. The Knave struggled over proper breath. His sword finally crashed down, barely missing the Hatter as the Knave struggled to keep on his feet.

Alice had been freed from his hold.

The Knave opened his mouth to speak, but simply couldn't. Alice ushered the still motionless Hatter away. "Run!" she shouted to him. And he did.

The two stole away, fleeing from the raging battle of Chessmen, if only to save their souls. The Hatter grabbed the girl about the wrist, determined not to lose her again. Pair of rabbits, both having grown a bit too shabby as of late, bounded up out of the bloodshed and were followed by a pip of a mouse.

The Cat appeared rather serenely before them all, flicking his tail this way and that before purring, "Fleeing the scene? Well, forgetting someone, aren't we?" The Hatter and Alice barely managed to come to a stop before obtrusive feline's grinning face.

Their eyes turned skyward. The Gryphon was locked in a mortal battle with the screaming Jabberwock.

"He's too high!" the March Hare sputtered.

The Cat's grin turned into something of a grimace before he looked to the Hatter—their newly promoted leader in the White Queen's absence. "Well?"

"We can't simply leave him!" Alice yelped, feeling the Hatter's hesitation all too well. "The Jabberwocky will kill him, we can't leave him here to die, not when this was all my fault and he promised my rescue."

The White Rabbit's nose twitched. "If you call the Gryphon now, the dragon will surely follow."

"Then I'll slay it," Alice interjected.

The Hatter stared at the girl. Voices from the past soon returned to haunt him. Suddenly Alice was six years old, smiling and vengeful. Startled by what his eyes were showing him, the Hatter released the girl—Alice promptly turned and blew a piercing whistle to the skies as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

The Cat murmured in the background, "Remember the Vorpal blade…"

And so, without a thought, Alice took the shining weapon from the Hatter's hand. She turned back in just the nick of time to see the Gryphon come soaring in, flames chasing his tail as the Jabberwocky followed. Alice cried out as she thrust the sword into the air. The steel caught the dragon's hide, jerking her arm well out of place as it cut a thin line the length of the Jabberwocky's body. The beast was still flying, chasing the Gryphon in his attempted escape, as he swooped too close to Alice and her company and cut himself on her raised knife.

Said Jabberwock did not fly much farther before the entire contents of his body came spilling out, washing the field in a sickening red rain.

Alice dropped the sword before the dragon fell, clutching her throbbing arm and watching in horror at what she'd done.

"Best be on our way," the Hatter whispered, he too fixated on the gruesome scene—the Chessmen both red and white screaming in terror as the beast fell apart and crashed to the battlefield, soaking them all in it's blood. He reclaimed the discarded Vorpal blade before it was forgot.

As for the rest crowded around Alice, they were too stunned to speak.


	12. Chapter 12

I...have no witty author's note this time! Thank you for the reviews, they have helped and made me smile on many the occasion. True, the story does seem to have an end in sight now. I'm thoroughly enjoying writing it and glad that those of you still reading are too. This is one of the longest fan-fiction pieces I've ever written, and I am fairly proud of the fact I've managed to stick to it. I'm also realizing I probably won't be writing many more _Alice_ fanfics any time soon, though I do have at least one one-shot in mind after this has finished (because I've run out of options on incorporating it into this run).

Anyway, happy reading :)

* * *

The horrid battle continued to rage, unaware of their sudden absence, as the group tore off into the woods. Too much too bear and too few of them remaining, the Hatter lead them away from it all, determined to slip away into the darkness and be forgotten entirely. The Gryphon took to the forests as soon as the Jabberwocky fell, and now stood as the low-flying lookout. Behind them, the battle would rage so long as Red forces remained standing, and Ilosovic Stayne, their commander, had not been slain despite however badly he had been injured. The burning anger locked in the Hatter's chest reassured him of this fact.

However, they were only a few hundred yards into the forest before they were forced to stop.

Alice, wholly silent up until that moment, turned and vomited; she dropping from the beeline as a hundred things suddenly struck her at once. Tears rolled from her face while her knees shook beneath her. The armor on her shoulders seemed to weigh a hundred times more than she recalled, and it felt as if she'd been taken by a bad case of the chills.

"Hatter!" the White Rabbit called, he having been the closest to the girl when she started having her fit. Though the animals had stopped running, it took the Hatter a bit longer to come to a halt.

His eyes were round as he glanced the scene, poor Alice shaking and her stomach seizing, but he did not step closer nor offer his assistance.

"What's wrong with the girl?" Mallymkin cried.

"Seems reality's left a bad taste in her mouth," a suddenly solid, albeit bony, Cheshire sneered.

The White Rabbit scrambled halfway up the tree she stood beside and pushed the golden curls from her face and soon whispered to her ear, "What is it, dear girl? Has the Jabberwocky thrown you off-kilter? Just put it out of your mind…think of it as a bad dream!"

Alice at first began to nod, but with another sniff and a short sigh she shook her head. She hadn't the strength to stand up straight but she was done being sick—whatever it was had already evacuated her thoughts. Yet her eyes were pressed shut tight and she refused to move.

The Rabbit's words echoed darkly in some far-off corner of her mind. _Put it out of your mind…_

She fell to her knees and retched again.

"Oh dear," the White Rabbit squeaked. He wrung his hands together nervously and whimpered, "There, there…"

The Cheshire then dropped out of his tree branch perch and muttered, "Best make camp here, the girl will need rest and a decent meal after that bout." The animals scurried about after the Cat's suggestion, scrambling for materials for fire and shelter, while Alice and the Hatter remain motionless, frozen on the spot.

She was sobbing. It took all the girl had to not curl into herself and collapse on the rugged floor. Meanwhile the Hatter's face was painted up with sympathy, but he could not find the means of conveyance.

As the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat moved away, Alice mustered in a small voice, "Where have I been, Hatter?"

He took two steps towards her and replied, quite honestly, "I do not know." It was like he was seeing her for the first time all over again. The woman who he had fully believed to be the Red Queen revived on the battlefield had faded away and revealed herself to be Alice instead.

Absolutely abhorrent visions floated behind Alice's closed eyes. Surely she could not have dreamed it all up. They were impossible to push away, yet she wanted nothing to do with any of them…the Knave was a commanding force in each scene. Alice shook as she recalled running to the Knave over the Hatter's embrace, the way she imagined her face as the Knave kissed her goodnight… And then, dear God—her stomach seized again—the black knight undressing her, as fits of her own laughter smothered out all remaining thoughts.

She did not speak a word of it aloud. She needed to destroy the fragmented memories herself, and she did not need their looks of pity. But even so, she could not quite grasp how the situation had twisted itself so—she could never find one starting incident or one scene where the Knave had managed to possess her so. Her heart dissolved, leaving a terrible, burning hole in her chest as she came to realize just how long he had held her under his spell.

But she could never understand how he did it—why she would be possessed to choose the damn Knave over the dear Hatter.

He was still frozen behind her, his body inclined as though he was trying to draw nearer or offer a hand, but he could not bring himself to move.

Alice then opened her eyes and shakily stood, turning to him a bit too quickly, as she fell back against the tree she'd been clinging to. "And where have you been?" she pried, "I needed help…I needed rescue…and…you did not come."

It was like an arrow to the heart.

He replied quickly, "It was not like that."

"Then how was it?" she barked. "You were just going to let me be victim—"

"Alice," he interjected softly, "I thought you'd been killed. I had no earthly idea you were in Wonderland." He took the several steps closer to her, reaching for her hand.

Tears were welling in her eyes as she continued staring, expecting some other answer. Something along the lines of how he did not care for her, how he had simply up and left her.

And then she stormed away, taking off into the surrounding woods without a second thought. Alice felt tears stinging at her eyes but forcibly blinked them away as her feet carried her through the shadowy maze of trees. Birds squawked and leaves rustled, but no sound could shake her. The Hatter's explanation left her livid and trembling, but ultimately she was affright. Why on earth would the man think her dead?

Considering this and rubbing at her eyes, Alice was suddenly dazed and confused when they opened a mere moment later.

"Absolem…." Alice uttered, "Oh, dear, Absolem!"

The girl found herself in a great grove, once a bright, cheery, green and blue-painted place. Today, the leaves of the forest floor had turned black and were splashed with blood and carnage. Of course, it was on a much smaller scale than say, the field out in front of the Red Queen's castle, but even still it was a gruesome scene.

The pipe still spewed little wisps of smoke though the hookah had been knocked from its high place on the last remaining mushroom. The little Blue Caterpillar was no where to be found, Alice soon discovered, but she suspected that the little bits of blue she found every so often were parts of the smoking bug that once was.

Though she found him quiet crude and mean, Alice would have never wished for the Caterpillar's demise.

"Who's done this to you?" the girl whispered, kneeling beside the mushroom, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Who would have wanted such an innocent Caterpillar dead?"

Something rustled quietly behind her. The girl quickly turned as she rose to her feet, gingerly pushing through the branches and the brambles until she found the source of it all—a massive colony of little things moving all too quickly. It wasn't until several moments later, when the little soldiers slowed to the sound of someone's shouting, that Alice realized it was a colony of centipedes. Decked in shining armor and sporting jagged spears, the girl put a hand over her mouth as a horrible, sickening feeling came over her.

These creatures had not existed before, she was sure of it. Just as the Jabberwocky had reappeared, Alice's warped mind had fashioned these dark insects that ultimately destroyed the prophesying Absolem.

Overcome with terrible guilt between Absolem and the White Queen's deaths, Alice ran until she found an old hollowed tree that she could curl inside and hide away in. Hugging her knees, she gently rocked herself before tears eventually took over and lulled her to sleep.

X X X

"_Alice!"_

They'd been looking for her for hours.

"…can't…leave her!"

"…what else…?"

"I'll…for her…"

The voices were very far away. Alice was still dozing in her tree.

"I'll look for her up here," the Hatter repeated; the White Rabbit nodded shortly and bounded off in a southerly direction. The man, sword at his side, ran north.

It was too much. The heartache was immense. All consuming.

Alice woke to the sound of something heavy dragging in the dirt, and then something making heavy thudding sounds. She groggily stood, cautiously treading from the hole in the tree into an extremely bright patch of sunlight. For an instant, the grass looked green and the trees weren't so gnarled and bent.

And there was the Hatter not too far away, his hair still a mess of orange and his clothes shabby and wrinkled from another restless night.

She began to smile, comforted by his presence being the first in her day, when her face twisted to one of pure horror. His back had been to her. She barely caught the gleaming silver he hoisted high in front of himself. The blade was already smudged with red.

"Hatter, _no_!" the girl shrieked, flying towards the man and the sword.

Her mind torn between fright and anger, the girl rushed around the Hatter and reached out for the sword; she missed the hilt but indeed managed to grab it around the blade and wrench it away from him. Though red marred her palm, she could feel no pain. At least not until the Hatter tried to turn the sword in his hand for a better grip—a second attempt, where Alice screamed from how deeply the blade cut her hand. Her mind was reeling before it began to swim from the sight of all the red, so she did the only thing that seemed logical to do.

Alice put herself between the Hatter and the blade. Her thin arms locked tight around his back and she buried her face against his shoulder, quivering slightly as she waited, and waited, for the blade's strike. She was left breathing so hard that all she could hear was the sound of her heart beat, and all that seemed to register was that she felt too cold for how fast her blood was rushing.

The blade hit the ground with a soft thud.

Finally her mind began moving again and she was backing away, shouting, "What…what were you doing, Hatter? What on _earth_ were you doing to yourself?"

He said nothing.

"You're supposed to be my protector! Do you realize that you just hurt me? Quite badly, in fact… Dear Hatter," she huffed, not allowing him a word in edgewise, "what on earth were you doing? Why won't you speak?"

"I am sorry, Alice," the Hatter whispered. But he had no words prepared for her. He truly was not expecting to find her.

"Sorry for what?" she barked.

"For hurting you. I honestly did not mean for you to intrude—"

"Intrude on _what_, Hatter?" She edged closer to him with a dark determination hidden in her eyes.

A sigh escaped him when finally his green eyes lifted to her figure. "I have caused you more harm than comfort, Alice. Wonderland has not been kind to us. I cannot forgive myself for my mistake on the battlefield. If my absence would increase your chance of life…" He hesitated. "It is worth it."

Her mouth slipped open in disbelief. "No!"

"Alice," he murmured dejectedly.

"N-no…no!" Alice shouted. She was shaking her head furiously.

The Hatter tried to step around her. She jumped in front of him, shoving her free arm at his chest and not moving the Hatter and inch. "No, Hatter!" she cried, this time her voice cracking to desperation, "No. You are my dearest friend, you cannot do this. Please, Hatter!"

He touched her shoulder.

"Please, I love you, Hatter," she choked, still shaking her head while her voice broke to pieces in favor of tears.

"Said the Walrus to the Carpenter, and I to the thee… You simply cannot be in love with me, Alice, for that's just madness…"

She lifted her head and met his eyes once again, startled by the nonsensical response. Alice opened her mouth several times but could not find a way to respond. She ached so badly and felt as if the world was about to explode, or perhaps that was just her head. So many thoughts raced about in her spinning head that she couldn't make sense of them all. The Hatter's hand curled tighter around her shoulder to ensure she didn't fall. He didn't like it when she fell, it made his knees hurt.

"I don't understand, she breathed. Her hand slipped from his coat and to her side as she straightened up.

"Why, this is Wonderland, and you are Alice and I am me," he spouted.

She stepped away.

Why would the Hatter dare take a blade to his own being? She looked him over frightfully—red stains seeped through various points on his jacket, all botched attempts at severing his ties to the world. When Alice had said she loved him, that he was near and dear to her, she truly meant it. She could no longer imagine herself here without the Hatter, and dared not think about what the world would be like without him.

But if this were true, and the White Queen's prophecy of Alice being the longevity of Wonderland was true, shouldn't the Hatter be rejoicing at her healing memories rather than wallowing in his own self-loathing?

Did this mean that the Hatter, perhaps, was his own being?

That maybe, this wasn't just a dream?

These were real creatures and real people?

Alice choked back a surprise sob. A watery smile wriggled its way onto her face.

Never in a million, not even in billion years would Alice wish for the Hatter's death.

Thus, the Hatter had acted on his own accord.

This made this man impossibly real.

"What…what is it, Alice?" he quickly inquired.

"I've j-just realized…I've made the most horrible m-mistake."

Said mistake was not vocalized, for in that moment a shriek split the air and the two bowed away from the clearing as the Gryphon came crashing down where they had stood. Flaming spears were lodged in his chest. Alice choked back a yelp and rushed to the beast, with her good hand she tugged at the hot thorns and cried out a string of reassurances to the beast. The Hatter pushed her aside as she struggled with the flames, he smothering the fire with one of the various pieces of linen hanging from his tatty jacket.

"T-they are close," the Gryphon grunted as he struggled to regain proper footing, "You must move, quickly!"

Alice looked at him with her brow drawn with concern. Her hand still rested against his great feathery chest, somehow believing that her little being would steady the bleeding beast. A frown cut across her face as she listened to his ragged breathing, when she suddenly looked to the Hatter and murmured, "No. No…we must stand and fight. They will chase us forever if we keep fleeing like this."

Her heart missed a beat when he looked to her, not uttering a word, simply knowing in his heart that she was right. They could only run from her fate for so long.

* * *

A/N: Bah, I saw the movie _again_ today and realized that Absolem was set to transform to a butterfly at the end. For this story, pretend he didn't yet. I'm borrowing the Centipedes from the computer game as well, for those who've not played it.


	13. Chapter 13

Aw. The end is near. :) Enjoy, keep reviewing and letting me know if it's going the way you'd thought/liked.

I did manage to write a one-shot recently, _Of Unsung Heroes_, on one concept that I really would have liked to incorporate here but just never found the right moment for.

Happy reading!

* * *

They were moving quietly and hurriedly, no one uttering a word as the last remaining forces of the White Queen's army gathered themselves in the woods. The battle was not far. The scent of blood drifted through the trees and withered their already drooping branches.

The Rabbit and the Hare stood with the Doormouse and were chatting quietly. The Gryphon was hidden away in the shadows of the trees, his wings damaged from his great fall and his breathing still labored, though his spirit could not be smothered.

Alice's thoughts ran wild, tossing tumultuously between the fight, those injured, her status in this world, and then…

She turned abruptly. The beautiful sword in her hand sang quietly as she looked to the man standing there, his arms folded as the Cat chatted quietly with him from a dead and felled tree. The Cheshire's tail flicked this way and that, trembling as he stood and stretched, up until the moment he disappeared entirely. It was here that she tread forward cautiously—the Hatter looked rather distant and reminiscent; Alice wondered what exactly the Cat had said.

"Hatter?" she called.

He merely raised a brow at his name being called, but soon offered a slight smile when he found it was Alice in his wake.

"I…I wanted to thank you," she suddenly began, "If it hadn't of been for you, I fear I would still be under the Knave's deceptive hand. T-thank you for saving me, Hatter."

His brow knit together. "I-I did not save you, A-Alice. It…it was you who saved me, I'd thought." His words faltered for a moment while his lips turned down sadly. "I was frightened… I felt as though nothing in this world was right… I had become so mad as to think that you were dead, Alice, even though you had stood right before me on that field back there. If…if you had not called to me, I…" His words fell off.

"Do not think of it," Alice encouraged. "I am here now."

She blinked several times, chasing the tears away. Watching the Hatter's emotive face was difficult when he was cycling between such tortured states. The battle had spread them all a bit too thin and lines of wear and tear were evident within all of them. The Hatter's face was split perfectly between relief and a dark malevolence—this one emotion he could not shake as his memories slowly returned. But never once did Alice think the man's appearance strange or odd; she simply believed that everyone was unique in his or her own way. His cat-like eyes and the pallor of his skin were a comfort as they had become familiar to her. As for his mind, broken as it was, she knew that he was learning to cope with it and trying his best to overcome it, and that some things simply took time.

As she considered this, her heart missed a beat.

Some things took time. The seasons, a good wine, and love were all among them.

Unfortunately they hadn't any time left.

Her fist curled and her eyes dropped. The Hatter sensed her changing mood and remarked, "It is difficult to look ahead, I know. When the battle rages all around us and all one wants is a good cup of tea…"

A sad smile hid behind her lips at his attempt at sympathy. Alice offered no words as she stepped closer still, and with her free hand cupped his jaw and kissed his lips earnestly.

A mere moment passed before the Hatter whispered, "Alice, please…"

She barely edged away, their mouths hanging open terrible desire, but Alice knew it screamed of irresponsibility. "Hatter… I do not want to lose you," she whispered, "I realize now what I could not before, that I've had a shade pulled over my eyes and I've let myself be led astray. But Hatter, I know now, that forever and always…that every time it is posed to me…" she drew a short breath and looked him in the eyes, the emeralds sad, "I will always choose you."

"Alice…" the words seemed difficult for him, "that is positively the best thing I could have ever asked to hear of you." And yet, somewhere in the dark depths of his mind, he'd known the truth of it all along.

She wrapped her arm around his neck and they kissed tenderly once again, and this time the Hatter did not push her away. The scene was picturesque and tragically breathtaking, until Alice broke and whispered tearfully, "You must help me destroy the Knave…I still fear what hold he may still have on me."

"Of course," the Hatter promised. He did not realize how soon his vow would be tested—as the Knave sprang from the shadows with a great roar, sword brandished as he jumped from the back of his black steed.

Alice cried out. The Hatter put himself between the two, drawing his sword and blocking the first of many attempts at his head with only a second to spare.

The White Queen's supporters appeared from the woods in similar fashion. The Rabbits carried small spears, some Chessmen that had chased the Knave appeared here and there, and the Gryphon shrieked not too far away. The Cheshire Cat appeared in a hazy fog, his face settling over the horse's eyes, causing the black steed to buck wildly.

"The final trial has begun," his voice purred dreamily, ricocheting off all of the trees and drifting to even the farthest reaches of the woods. "Dear Alice…and the Hatter…how they've got you now, Ilosovic Stayne…"

The Hatter lunged at the shaking Knave. Alice swiped at him from the side. It was a losing battle, what with the both of them revived and taking jabs at him, the one who was already suffering from his fair share of bleeding wounds.

But the Knave cried out to the barren wood, "Seize her! Take her far away from here!"

The two remaining of a former four Outlanders charged forth from the shadows, their faces grim and marred with red. They looked positively terrifying, their bodies huge and hulking on their giant black steeds. Alice screamed as the first one caught her around the middle and hoisted her onto his horse, tearing away into the forest in the blink of an eye.

The Hatter's mouth slipped open, but he hadn't the words to express the shock.

The Knave jumped at him again, cutting a second line deep into the man's arm as he snarled, "Who's to save you now, Hatter?"

But Alice was not one to give in. Vorpal Sword tight in her hand, she clung to the man in the black armor before turning the blade in her hand and driving it into the space between his head and shoulder. It plunged deep—cutting into his heart before he collapsed entirely, sliding off the horse with a heavy crash. She too almost fell, clumsily clawing at the saddle to keep herself on the wild horse's back. The beast was frightened, she determined, not merely crazed and trying to buck her off. But she could never kill the thing, nor could she put it in danger by remaining on his back. Alice was the center of attention now, attracting the commotion and the bloodshed. The remaining Outland knight was not far behind, but Alice slid from the horse's back despite what her better half screamed at her.

Once again she found herself staring at a man in black who tried to make a grab for her, but this time the girl was ready. Alice drew the sword back and brought it down with perfect timing, but her eyes squeezed shut as the man screamed and something fell beside her with a dull thump. Taking a deep breath and counting to six, the girl struggled to convince herself she had not just cut off the arm of a deadly soldier before bolting off through the trees again.

It did not take long to maneuver herself back to the clearing, what with the sound of crashing swords and men screaming all around. But Alice was soon stunned at what she saw. She placed a ginger hand on the tree nearest her, hanging in the shadows as she watched the desperate dueling just beyond the brambles. If they had not all been in mortal peril, it would have been the most artistic thing she'd seen in her life.

The Hatter and the Knave—they moved so quickly and so swiftly it seemed impossible, improbable… Each threw shots at the other but either man responded as if it had been rehearsed to dramatic perfection. The Hatter tried a side-sweeping cut at the Knave and he slipped just out of reach before he threw his sword down, nearly taking off the Hatter's arm. The Hatter took one step to the side, and while the Knave was drawing his blade from the earth, the man threw a fist into the black knight's face.

A definite crack sounded; the Hatter hissed and shook his hand while a red smear appeared on the Knave's face. He'd been knocked back a foot. The Hatter went at him again, his blade cutting down at the man's shoulder when the Knave blocked the blow just in time. The knight lunged forward, his sword still aloft and scraping against the Hatter's as he moved. A mere foot from his enemy, the man kicked the Hatter's feet from under him. His sword flipped upside down in his hand, point flying down to the Hatter's winded body as he rolled aside. With this swift miss, the Hatter tripped the Knave as well and made a snatch for his fallen hat. He was soon on his feet, smiling defiantly as he placed his hat on his fiery mane but wasn't quick enough to dodge the Knave's foot smashing into his face as he too jumped to his feet once more.

It went on like this for what seemed an eternity, the two men dancing around one and other, their fight raging wildly here and there, up and down. The near misses vastly outnumbered the actual landed blows, most of which came from anything but their sword tips.

But of course, all things were destined come to an end. A great crack echoed and was followed by a warbling twang. The Hatter's blade had snapped in half, the tip landing somewhere to the side a full moment later. He acted as if it was a mere hiccup in the duel, though they both knew the truth of the matter when the Knave's dark smile came creeping across his sneering face.

A sullen voice suddenly split the scene. "Time can be funny, dear girl, but it seems as though the Hatter's has run out—"

Alice didn't know if she had dreamt it up or not, but the voice was so loud and so imploring that she felt she didn't have a choice, that no matter what she did she would be too late… It was the same scene as before, where she had screamed her love for the Hatter and it had vexed the Knave…

She tore through the brush, her sword lifted high as she cried, "Off with your head!"

It all happened in the blink of an eye. In one clean sweep of the sword it seemed so quick, so easy. The Knave's back had been to her when she bound out of the woods. The Hatter's eyes went wide. Alice could not breathe, especially so when the Knave still staggered forward.

She had missed.

But why, now that her love _was_ true, could the Knave strike the Hatter?

Alice's mouth soon dropped open in utter shock.

The Knave fell to his knees and with some sickening squelch, his head slipped clean off his shoulders.

She herself nearly fell. Her knees shook again as she watched the downed Knave—his body tipping forward and pouring sickening red into the grove. The Hatter stared for a time as well, but luckily glanced up just in time—Alice was standing there, looking positively ill and uttering little sounds of terror that she herself probably could not hear.

He danced around the Knave's body in a wide circle, catching Alice around the middle just as she collapsed into a small fit in his arms. Tears slipped from her eyes as she repeatedly apologized for God knew what, unable to tear her gaze from the felled knight. She shook so violently he feared she would simply fall apart, so he took her shoulders and cried, "Alice!"

She looked to him, eyes suddenly red and tired, before uttering another small sound and collapsing there in his embrace.

The rest of them, the Rabbit, the Doormouse, even the Gryphon, they all froze and looked to him. The Hatter's reassuring face soon cracked and shattered, the pieces dissolving into fear and sadness. He shook Alice gently but she would not stir.

"Alice, no… You must wake, you simply must… Wonderland…" the man stammered. Every excuse to keep her there ran by his lips, but the one true reason, that he needed her there; he could not speak it aloud. It would surely mean defeat if he told her so and she still would not wake.

Thunder groaned in the distance. Those still standing, the White Queen's army, their faces went long and their shoulders sagged. Mallymkun looked from the girl to the Hatter and then away, feeling as if she was intruding on something deeply private. The March Hare's ears drooped though he could not wrap his mind around as to why. The White Rabbit's eyes shone. The Gryphon's head began to dip low.

The Hatter's eyes fell closed and he clutched the girl all the more tightly. Surely she had just fainted, but when he found she would not wake, not even stir at his pleas, his heart had sunk.

The thunder grew louder, and soon they realized that the sound did not hail from the sky, but rather from the woods themselves—the Red army was still marching forward.

Suddenly the Cat's voice broke through, "The Knave was felled but her curse not dispelled… We'll be trapped here, bound to certain death if she does not wake…" His body materialized beside the girl over the course of his speech.

Hearing his words but still unsure of what do to or say, the Hatter merely mumbled, "Alice, you cannot let them win…not after the hell you, of all people, have been through."

She barely moved. A pained whine slipped from her lips when everyone else choked back a gasp. All eyes were wide on Alice.

The sun became so much brighter, blinding them and throwing the oddest sheen about the place. Alice did not move again, but they all took note of the reddish haze that suddenly seeped about her and the Hatter. It grew like a fog or a mist might, curling and crawling along the forest floor until suddenly it had spread too thin and the burning sunlight tore through the wisps of red. Alice was left with a pale glow for a mere fraction of a second, when she then drew a great gasp of a breath and began coughing and sputtering like a mad man.

So fixated on the girl, none of them realized what had happened to them until Alice jerked back in the Hatter's hold, her eyes wide and staring to his suddenly changed face.

His face once again struggled between relief and panic upon seeing her stricken expression. But she was alive, and his heart pounded at this fact. "Alice, what…what, what is it?"

The Cat, beside them both, smiled delightedly. "Your hands, Hatter," he offered.

His thoughts already reeling, the Cat's short explanation seemed preposterous….until, of course, he glanced his fingertips. His mouth hinged open at the cleared skin now the proper flesh tone. But it wasn't just his hands that had healed. Alice was left staring in shock at a face she recognized from some far off land, what with his angled jaw and the brown waves that made up his hair. They both glanced to the Cat a moment later, he once again as plump and happy as could be.

Wonderland, it seemed, had finally been restored.

Each of them seemed brighter with hope renewed. The darkness of the place slowly faded way, the trees stretched skyward as if woken from some eternal slumber. Even the thunder in the distance had suddenly ceased, unbeknownst to them, those truly corrupted by the Red Queen's spirit had fallen and wasted away, while those Chessmen who had been coerced into service suddenly rejoiced with their newfound freedom.

Alice, now on her feet, looked around in wonder at them all. Smiles were abounding as a low buzz, a happy chatter, began to sweep through the place. Their champion, now twice over, had survived. Each of them breathed a sigh of relief and offered a grin to the girl, each of them, except the Cheshire Cat, for he knew the truth of the matter.

The girl they all loved so, little Alice Kingsley, could not stay in Wonderland forever.


	14. Chapter 14

She never wanted to leave. Not now, when Wonderland was beautiful and shining as it was, not when the Hatter had been restored, not now, that she knew the truth of what all had happened to her.

The celebration stretched well into the evening, where those left standing under the White Queen's name gathered at her castle to learn the sad news that she had been, regretfully, beheaded by the Knave's Outland knights, who now all lie dead for their dark deeds. Alice was then, in turn, named the new Queen of Wonderland, their champion and savior who could never do them wrong.

Though grieving the loss of their Queen, the White court prepared a great feast in honor of dear Alice, who had done her best to save the woman and had indeed managed to save all of Wonderland. Thus, throughout the night there was plenty of good food, grand wine, and delightful celebratory dancing.

Every time she glanced the Hatter, she could not help but smile. Before he could certainly hold his own, but now, she realized, he was positively dashing and she took note of how he could not look away from long—his emerald gaze made her blush, and her catching him so frequently made him go a bit red as well.

"You know he's positively _mad_ for you," a sudden charming voice purred beside her ear. The Cheshire's face floated sneakily beside her, grinning and giving a wink or two when she simply replied:

"I know."

"Hatter wouldn't blush over just _any_ Alice catching his eye."

"Oh, don't bother him, Chessur, he's clearly not used to his restored face. It wouldn't help to make him feel more insecure," the girl chuckled.

"Clearly you aren't used to it either," the Cat purred.

"Hey!" Alice retorted, "I told him the truth of the matter _long_ before he looked like this. Don't go accusing me of chasing a pretty face."

"Mmhmm," the Cat replied, spinning upside down and fading away as the man in question suddenly drew near.

Alice smiled when he began, "I fear I might be going mad."

"How so?" she inquired earnestly.

"I thought I just saw you chatting with a grinning cat."

"Maybe it's me then," she suggested, "who's gone 'round the bend, that is."

"You'd be better off leaving that to me," the Hatter smiled.

Alice said nothing, still aglow and smiling beside him with her hands folded quaintly behind her back. "So, how are you, after all?" she finally whispered.

At first, all he offered was a shrug. But as he considered her words, the man replied quietly, "I feel…right. I feel as though I am myself again, and that I haven't felt right in quite some time. This being said I feel as though I've lost quite a bit of time and don't even know where to begin deciphering all those memories, all those lost days, hours—"

"Hatter," Alice prodded gently.

He paused midsentence and smiled. "Though it seems one can't escape madness in its entirety. Perhaps I was destined to be some wild, unquelled, bonkered man. It's in my blood, been there quite a while now."

Alice's face smoothed out as he continued, "It was me who had to storm the Red castle years before you even got here, only to go and get poisoned by her _majesty_." He spat the words out as if they burnt his tongue.

And so he was still touch and go with the madness. Only time would tell if he would recover, and Alice sighed at this fact. She knew in her heart that the Hatter simply must recover.

The pair stood together, near the barren White throne for quite some time, saying nothing as they watched their followers chatting happily and in celebratory fashion. The Red Queen had finally, _finally_ been destroyed as Alice lay in the Hatter's lap not but a few hours before. Alice at last managed to overcome the Knave's hold just as he went to strike down the Hatter for good. It was the fact that she realized she could not live without him—the Hatter, a real man with his own will and his own wants—that drove her into action.

She professed her love for him on more than one occasion and distinctly recalled a kiss cut short, and yet they simply stood there, exchanging short words and long glances as if none of it had happened before. But Alice, oh Alice, she knew the truth now. As she came to stand in the bloodied clearing awash with sunlight, it was as if a veil had finally lifted from her mind. It was all real—the first battle for Wonderland that left her poisoned with the Red Queen's vile spirit, the journey home, the Hatter and the Knave…all of it had truly happened, whether or not she had wanted it to.

So Alice, curious as she was, lifted her gaze once again and murmured, "Hatter? What are we to do now?" They had saved Wonderland, this was true, so what else was possibly left?

"Well, if you're to get terribly technical, I suppose there's two kingdoms needing to be brought together with two sets of government in terrible disarray…" the Hatter began.

"But I'm just Alice," she mumbled, "I'm not the Queen they all tell me I am."

He inclined a bit closer to her. That was exactly what he so loved about her.

Her voice dropped further and she leaned a bit closer, "But I suppose if I was Queen, I would need a King who could fashion me a most excellent crown."

The Hatter chuckled. "Now where are you going to find someone like that?"

She glanced his eyes once more and replied quite evenly, "I haven't the slightest idea."

They suddenly kissed and found that all other senses faded away. They could barely hear the sounds of cheering and laughter from the court; they all delighted at their realized affection for one and other.

With foreheads pressed to one and other, the Hatter soon whispered, "I've waited so long for you, Alice. There were times I didn't even realize it or I felt I'd lost you…but it all makes sense now…for I feel that you make me, _me_." A shudder traced her spine with his words, as she felt the exact same way. Two halves of the same heart joined together forged an incredible bond, she realized.

"I love you, Tarrant," she barely breathed.

"As I have always loved you, Alice Kingsley."

Then, the realization that struck her in the following moment was like a shot to the heart. Ever since the engagement party in London, she'd been terrified of what her life might become. Back home, it was devoid of adventure, love, of life itself, it seemed. But here, with him, with them, with all of her friends, she had plenty of it to go around and then some. If anything, she should be marrying the Hatter, she realized and her eyes snapped open wide.

But then he kissed her lips again, a gentle and endearing, yet a positively shocking sensation, and the thought fluttered away. Life was to be lived in the here and now, she believed, using that as her excuse for wrapping an arm around his neck and smiling against his touch.

This, _this_ is what she had needed. This is what she had been wanting in her return to Wonderland.

And so the night spilled over into morning, many of the guests taking shelter in the many rooms of the White castle, while Alice was allowed the White Queen's finest guest room. The Hatter led her there and bid her farewell, but as soon as he stepped away from her bedside she pleaded for him not to go. Now that he was here, his mind near completely restored, she simply could not let him leave, for fear he would slip away and recess into his old state of unreachable madness. It did not take much of her puppy-dog eyes and pleading to wear him down, and thus they spent the night in each other's arms, neither getting a better night's sleep in their lives.

Morning made itself known as golden rays flooded the pristine castle. However, the day itself seemed wrong. The guests rose slowly and made their way home seeming a bit more sullen than before, despite the great triumph that occurred just yesterday. Alice woke beside the Hatter with a smile, but by the time they reached the court, they too felt as though rainclouds were lurking in their midst. It wasn't long before they realized just what it was that made them feel that way.

The White Rabbit was crouched beside the throne, looking up at the desolate thing as though it was the cause of all the world's problems.

Mirana was dead. The Red army had indeed cut off the White Queen's head.

Alice crossed the room and touched the Rabbit's shoulder, murmuring quietly, "We shall have a memorial in her honor." The Rabbit struggled to show a smile as his eyes shone with tears. "She will not be forgotten," the girl promised firmly, "for if it were not for her and her healing words, we would still be locked in that battle."

And so it was deemed a day of grieving for the Queen they had so highly revered. Flowers were gathered, candles were burned, and tears were shed. But when it was all said and done, the court still turned to Alice and suggested she stand in as the new Queen of Wonderland.

It wasn't until much later in the day, when the sun was setting and Alice was in the garden, looking out at the beautiful waterfalls in the distance, that the Cat approached her. She looked misty eyed and distant, surely turning over heavy decisions in her mind. The Cat looked a bit downtrodden as well, though it was likely over what he was about to say to her.

"You do realize this means your visit is coming to a hasty end," he murmured, sitting rather still on the white stone bench beside her. "Certainly you must, as even you don't seem too keen on the idea of being Queen of Wonderland."

She did not move, her head still balanced in one hand as she looked out to the setting sun. "Why must it end, Cat? Why must I leave this land now that it is just the way I fancy it? I needn't the crown but I could take it up if I must…"

He bowed his head. "You mustn't. Mirana, even she suspected it was us…Wonderland…all of _this_ that drove you mad in the first place."

She turned and glanced him. "I don't understand. I've been told time and time again I behaved the way I did because the Red Queen had possessed my mind."

"This is true, to an extent," he replied lowly, "but alas, you would have never had to have faced such a tragedy if you had never ventured into this place to begin with. Wonderland has left you with deep scars, Alice, just as your world has with the Hatter. You may not be able to see them, but all of us can feel them."

She touched her arm where the Bandersnatch had clawed her from her previous venture to Wonderland. True, the place had left her with some wicked wounds.

"That is not what I mean," the Cat replied, looking to her solemnly. "Your mind is woven up so intricately with Wonderland that it seems to make it difficult for you to discern one place from the other, especially so if traits or characters from one world pass to the other. Mirana said you would have been fine had the Hatter, and consequently the Knave, not followed you to the other world because there would have been no way for you to remember it."

"How could I forget this place?" she retorted.

The Cat shrugged. "There is something peculiar about crossing the line between the worlds—it afflicts man so horrifically while the White Rabbit can meander about as he so pleases."

"But why must I leave? Why can I not simply stay here, submerged in one place, so my mind will not get confused?"

The Cat smiled halfheartedly. "You've a life in another world, girl. Responsibilities and the like."

Alice pursed her lips. "I don't want to go back. I don't want to live there, where other people try to push me into their view of a perfect life. They don't understand the meaning of life, even! Tell me Cat, what point is there in marrying a man you don't love?"

"Don't ask me to make sense of something so ridiculous," he chuckled. "But that is where you hail from, that is how your life is said to operate."

The girl shook her head. "But I am a free person, it is up to me to decide how my life shall be. And besides, what's to say a person isn't allowed to move to a strange, new land, even if it's only for the sake of adventure?"

The Cat smiled more earnestly. "You are persistent, Alice."

"Because I know what it is that I want," she concluded. Suddenly the girl sat straight and turned to the Cat once again, her lips quivering with a smile.

"What's in your head, girl?" the Cheshire inquired.

"I must ask a favor of you, Cat," she simply replied.

One more day passed in Wonderland. Alice expressed her desires to all of those closest to her, all of whom agreed with her decision, save for the White Rabbit who looked a bit forlorn, as he too knew the ways of the other land: the lives plagued with responsibility (as well as misery). However, upon hearing the Rabbit's dismay, the Hatter's face fell and he soon grew quiet. When Alice pressed him, he too agreed that she was behaving irresponsibly, and the girl found herself staring with mouth agape. Everyone else stared with an equally surprised expression, knowing the Hatter had been the one to insist she stay in Wonderland the last time she ventured there. He soon pulled her aside.

"I can't be the one to make the decision for you Alice, that wouldn't be proper or fair to you. I…I l-love you, and I don't want t-to be without you, but to simply r-run away from your home—" he stammered, unable to meet her eyes after a mere moment.

She cut him off. "This is my home, Tarrant, and you aren't making the decision in the least. All this talk of responsibility and the like…it just makes me think that I'm being told what I must do and how I must act and that being ordered around and just taking everything at face value… That isn't what I wanted for myself! I'll say it now, I'll say it again tomorrow, a hundred years from now: I choose you. I choose Wonderland because this fantastic place is what I truly love."

The two stared at one and other for a long time, Alice struggling over further explanation when the Hatter stepped forward and caught her lips with his own once more. His thumb brushed her cheek before she was leaning into his kiss and begging for more, some sort of reassurance from him, when he instead inched away and murmured, "I am happy for your decision, but I will always understand if you wish to go back."

"Where is your muchness, Hatter? Must I go a little mad to get the real Hatter returned to me?" Alice whispered.

He smiled again. "We're all mad here," the man replied, "I've just found that sometimes reason overstays it's welcome." He paused. "I would most prefer it if you were to stay, how is that?"

As if on cue, a ball of gray and blue fur appeared out of thin air, ready and waiting for Alice's decision with a wicked, little grin.

In the _other_ land, it all went by in the blink of an eye. Just as Mrs. Kingsley was wondering where her daughter had been off to for such a long time, as now it was nearly suppertime after yet another disastrous engagement party where neither man nor woman appeared, she found a note waiting for her at Alice's table setting.

_Mother,_

_I know you have always wanted the best for me, but as I am now nearing twenty years old, I have decided that because it is in fact my life, I should be the one to decide what exactly is the best for me. _

_I have found an irrevocable and undeniable love with Tarrant. We have decided to elope and I beg of you, please do not be angry. He is a good man and I know you know he will take care of me. _

_Until we meet again,_

_Alice_

Tears prickled in the corners of the woman's eyes. Satisfied with the response, the Cheshire Cat glided from the shadows of the home's dining room, never to be seen in that strange, strange _other_ land again.

X X X

_The End._

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much to those of you who have made it this far, those of you who have repeatedly reviewed, and to any and everyone who enjoyed this story. I cannot express how much I appreciate the reviews, as it made writing all the more fun (and helped me get it done in a timely manner)! It's going to be hard to stop plotting for this story. I'm probably going to end up making a liar out of myself...I'll probably be busy writing one-shots until the plotting stops... :)

I hope you enjoyed _Alice's Trip There and Back_, please write a little review to let me know what you think now that you've reached the end!


End file.
